Coop Scoop Blog
$10K Donated to The Food Pantries for the Capital District on Behalf of HWFC Shoppers & Staff
On January 18, Honest Weight Food Co-op presented a check worth $10,302 to The Food Pantries for the Capital District at the offices of the Food Pantries on Essex Avenue in Albany. The funds are the result of a two-month long donations drive held at the neighboring grocery store, where shoppers were asked to purchase paper “cans” for one dollar each at checkout. By the end of the drive, which wrapped up in December, donation bulletins covered every exposed wall and many of the windows around Honest Weight’s Service Desk.
Honest Weight set a goal of raising $10K after the first month of the campaign proved to be very successful, collecting an average of over $1,000 per week. By December 31st, the register drive totaled out at $9,269. To meet their goal, Honest Weight donated an additional $958 from the Honest Weight Community Fund, an endowment started in 2008 for the purpose of annual giving. An additional $75 was donated in the name of Alessia Maria Gonzalez, who was the winner of a contest held by Honest Weight and organized by National Co-op Grocers. National Co-op Grocers, a business services cooperative of 147 food co-ops, donated the funds.
All of the money raised will be put towards meals for the hungry and programs to improve food access in the Capital District, where over 97,000 people, including more than 30,000 children, are food insecure.
“Our coalition of more than 60 food pantries relies heavily on volunteers, sponsors, and partners to help us to fulfill our mission of working together to feed the hungry in our community, “ says Natasha Pernicka, Executive Director of the Food Pantries for the Capital District. “Currently, more than 1 in 10 of our community members are struggling with food insecurity. Support from partners like Honest Weight Food Coop and their customers is very important. It is with this support that we were able to deliver more than 2.7 million pounds of food for our member pantries in 2017, which helped provide approximately 2.7 million meals for our neighbors in need. We are grateful for their support”
Honest Weight Food Co-op, an independent community-owned grocery store with a focus of offering natural, organic, and locally-sourced food and products, is committed to donating 5% of its annual net income to local non-profit organizations. The donations are allocated through a variety of programs, many of which are managed by Honest Weight’s Outreach Coordinator, Amy Ellis.
“Community outreach is one of the ways Honest Weight fulfills its mission of giving back to our community,” offered Ellis. “Along with our free in-store classes, our outreach team travels to schools, libraries, and partner organizations to teach cooking and nutrition classes to kids and adults. We also provide donations, in the form of gift cards, food, catering, service, and cash donations to about 150 organizations every year, all of which work in the same local communities we do.”
The non-profit and the grocery store have more than just a neighborhood in common. Both seek to make healthy food accessible to their communities and the Greater Capital District. At Honest Weight, shoppers will find a collection bin for a non-perishables to accept food donations for The Food Pantries year-round. The grocery store also donates bread and produce to The Food Pantries and other local organizations weekly. The two businesses plan to continue expanding their partnership in 2018, with collaboration on education, programs, and fundraising that will work towards meeting their mutual goals.
See the Times Union article here!
Photo description: Honest Weight staff who ran the successful campaign presented the check, including the two cashiers who raised the most funds.
Pictured from left to right: John Akots - Director of Marketing, Honest Weight; Amy Ellis - Outreach Coordinator, Honest Weight; Kelly Donegan – Front End Assistant Manager, Honest Weight; Debbie Foley – Cashier, Honest Weight; Al DeSalvo - Cashier, Honest Weight; Natasha Pernicka - Executive Director, The Food Pantries; Rick Mausert – Chief Cooperative Officer, Honest Weight