October Change for Good Partner: AFC Gives Community Fund
October's Change for Good Partner is
AFC Gives Community Fund
The Ashland Food Co-op has been providing support to nonprofits for over two decades. The AFC Gives Community Fund helps us support grassroots programs, respond to emergencies, and fund local projects along with Community Grants. Through the cumulative register donations over the course of this month, shoppers will help support this work in 2023 and beyond.
In 2020, we helped support our community following the devastation of the Almeda Fires.
With funds raised from the Change for Good months, we were able to contribute to these organizations:
MRG Foundation, Rogue Action Center, My Valley, SOEQUITY, UNETE, Jackson County School District #4, SOESD, Maslow Project, Family Nurturing Center, La Clinca, Our Family Farms, Ashland Schools Foundation, Rogue Food Unites, Remake Talent - Holiday Relief Event, Cascade Builders Association, and Rogue Valley Farm to School
In 2022, Ashland Food Co-op made a donation from the Community Fund, along with other co-ops across the nation, to a Disaster Recovery Fund organized by National Co+op Grocers (NCG) Cooperation, Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) and National Co-op Business Association of the United States (NCBA CLUSA) to Co-op Ukraine to support cooperatives impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Here's a look at what projects the 2021 Community Grants supported:
Bee Girl used Community Grant funds to support thousands of local bees by planting flowers in pastures to feed honey bees, native bees, and local livestock.
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Happy Smiles helps students receive free dental health education, dental screenings, and preventive dental services at a local elementary school.
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Bellview Elementary School students building a Hugelkultur to retain water and offer nutrients to the berries that will be planted there later this month.
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“A very nice man with a host of health issues is living in his vehicle. He was out of gas and waiting for his monthly check. He asked our volunteer for a gas card, and when she also offered a Co-op gift card, he broke out in tears and hugged her.” -from St. Vincent De Paul
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Karen Taylor from Rogue Community College facilitates building water swales to divert and maximize rain water and Grange gutter water to plants in the Emerging Futures Network Food Forest.
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Rogue Action Center used Community Grant funds to open a resource and navigation center in Talent where fire recovery staff is meeting with survivors to fill out housing applicants, Oregon rental assistance applications and connecting them to other housing and financial assistance resources.
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‘Hope for the Holidays’ provided ten families, who were survivors of the Almeda Fire, with holiday meals. The wish behind the program was to provide a few comforts of “home” during the cold winter months for families who lost their homes and are still in temporary housing. -from Heart Rising
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Oftentimes, students come to the Asante Ashland Community Hospital School Nurse Program with physical ailments such as headaches, stomach aches, and fatigue requesting medication to alleviate their symptoms, when their symptoms are actually caused by a lack of food or hydration. Having gift cards from the Co-op has given students access to healthy snacks and reduced the need for unnecessary over-the-counter medication administration, while providing an opportunity to educate students regarding the direct relationship between food/nutrition and how they feel.
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Josephine County Food Bank made their first purchase of biodegradable containers. They are “so excited to accomplish their primary goal of feeding people and at the same time relieved that [they] are not contributing plastic to the landfill.”
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Be the Change Rogue used these funds to promote Rogue To Go. Marketing the program has been helpful in reaching a wide audience, both eaters (customers) and eateries (participating restaurants), to help expand Rogue To Go across the Rogue Valley and reduce single use waste for to-go meals.
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Any of Walker Elementary's 225 students who find themselves without a snack at school are able to have a good one, thanks in part to these funds! Walker PTO particularly appreciates the nut-free and gluten free snack options the Co-op stocks, to enable them to feed all Walker students regardless of dietary restrictions.
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Pollinator Project Rogue Valley utilized the funds to put in a 27’ x 18’ seeding area at the Ashland Emergency Food Bank to grow native pollinator plants to share with the community. Assuming success, the plants, and later their seeds, will be shared through plant sales and also garden contributions through their ‘From Fire to Flowers’ program.
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In 2022, AFC Gives has awarded $25,150 to 17 organizations!
Congratulations to these local nonprofit organizations who are receiving funding for their projects:
St Vincent De Paul
La Clinica
Walker PTO
Siskiyou School
Ashland Emergency Food Bank
Consumer Credit Counseling of Southern Oregon
Armadillo Technical Institute
Cascade Girl
Ashland Schools Foundation
Emerging Futures at Bellview Grange
Jackson County Library Foundation
Tish McFadden at Multicultural Association of S.O.
Folk Soul Farm
Ashland Parks Foundation
White Oak Farm & Education Center
Cave Junction Farmers Market
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If you are a local nonprofit interested in future funding from AFC Gives, visit ashlandfood.coop/afcgives to learn more and sign up to receive e-mail notifications when applications open.
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The Community Fund helps AFC Gives support grassroots programs, respond to emergencies, and fund local projects.
What is Change for Good?
The AFC Gives committee focuses on ways that the Co-op community can support local organizations and groups doing important work in the Rogue Valley.
2020 was the first year of Change for Good, a register round-up program to benefit a slate of ten organizations, voted on by Co-op owners, through the cumulative donations of shoppers choosing to round-up their shopping total to the nearest dollar.
From one cent to 99 cents, it all adds up to feeling good about supporting the community.
More Co-op News
Meet class instructor, Joette Calabrese
This class instructor profile is connected to the February 27 free lecture, "You, Too, Can Beat the Flu!"
On an early Kolkata (Calcutta) morning, thick crowds gather outside the gates of the hospital while officials yell out "Brain tumor, kidney failure, cancer patients form a line here!” Hopeful patients, family members and caregivers arrange themselves by disease symptom.
What to do with all this citrus?!
So you grabbed a few too many extra oranges and grapefruits and lemons (and some finger limes, and some satsumas…), and rather than watch them go bad, we want to provide you with some ideas on how to reduce waste. You’ll also get to enjoy citrus in a lot of new ways!
There are many guides and recipes across the internet (like this one by our friends at Grow Forage Cook Ferment), so here are a few ideas to get your creative and citrus juices flowing.
Update from the General Manager: "Food for Paradise" campaign
Ashland Food Co-op's General Manager, Emile Amarotico, ends 2018 on a very uplifting note with a report back on the "Food for Paradise" donation campaign. Watch the video below, or read on for an extended written update.
Hello, this is Emile Amarotico, the general manager of Ashland Food Co-op with an update on the Co-op’s Food for Paradise initiative.
5 Fresh Ways to Save at the Co-op
We’ve all been there: your bank account is looking thin after a month of celebrations, but you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to save up for a big purchase later in the year
Now’s the time to make some changes to your spending - but that doesn’t mean you have to skimp on quality goods at the Ashland Food Co-op.
These are some lesser known ways to save at the Co-op. Think of them like ordering off the secret menu.
Savings Level: $
Board Report: How "Food For Paradise" Got Started
By Mira Wonderwheel, Board of Directors
4 Ways to Reduce Your Food Waste
It’s the New Year, our favorite time for goal-setting, making positive resolutions, and shifting our impact. One of the Co-op’s goals is to become a Zero Waste facility. Our staff works to divert as much food waste as we can - and we hope our member-owners will join us in this goal too.
2019 Community Grant Applications
The funding cycle for the 2019 Co-op Community Grants for nonprofit organizations begins in February.
Meet Cooking Class Instructor Charlie Douglass
Many talented local chefs share their expertise in the Co-op Kitchen. Charlie Douglass is no exception. As the former Master Chocolatier at Harry and David, Charlie knows a thing or two about chocolate and candy making.
Tell us how your love of cooking and food began.
Meet Cooking Class Instructor Tiazza Rose
Tell us how your love of cooking and food began.
Give the Gift of Wellness
Finding the perfect gift for a friend or loved one is an art. This winter, we carefully selected these assortments for those who love some good self-care, are working in partnership with their gut health, or for those making efforts to reduce their pain. Each of these gift ideas will help you make your loved ones feel extra special and extra healthful.
Give the Gift of Good Food
During the month of November, Co-op shoppers can nourish their own families and help fight hunger in the Rogue Valley. We’ve teamed up once again with Smart Chicken® for the Smart Giving Holiday Challenge.
Here’s how it works.
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For every 10 pounds of Smart Chicken® you purchase from the Meat Department or the Deli, Smart Chicken® will donate one pound of chicken to a local non profit
We're All Turtles
By Dean Williamson, Board of Director
My grandmother loved to talk. Oh, could she talk! And she had one expression that I’ve always really liked. “If you come across a turtle on top of a fence post, you can be pretty sure it didn’t get there by itself.”
The Power of Principle Seven
By Emile Amarotico, General Manager
As we approach the holidays, I’d like to invoke the spirit of the Seventh Cooperative Principle: Concern for Community. The International Cooperative Alliance defines Principle Seven as when “cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.”
So how does that work? How does Ashland Food Co-op demonstrate concern for community?
The Co-op is Certified Organic! What does that mean?
By Barry Haynes, Store Manager
Did you know that the Ashland Food Co-op is the only Certified Organic Retailer in southern Oregon. Well, that’s great! But what does that actually mean?
Love Local with the Local Guy
Throughout September, we will be celebrating all things local. And no one loves local or is more local than our Temporary Demo Coordinator, Brighton Litjens. He was basically raised at the Co-op, has a strong passion for local farmers and producers and loves delighting shoppers with delicious samples and great deals. Who better to tell us about loving local than the "Local Guy" himself?
Tell us a bit about yourself.