Everyone is welcome to shop at the co-op, and everyone deserves access to organic, healthy, and affordable food.
To help make this statement a reality, we’ve developed a pilot program for Owners who use SNAP/EBT. Our Community Access Discount is modeled on longstanding successful programs at other co-ops.
Any Owner with SNAP benefits automatically qualifies. The 10% discount will apply to everything in the store, including sale items and Co+op Basics, wellness products, general merchandise, deli foods, and hot soups.
Want to participate? Applications will be available at the registers starting Friday, April 22. Fill one out to give us your contact info and a signature. Once we’ve processed the application (within 3-5 days), we’ll automatically apply the 10% discount to your purchases at the register. You’re eligible for as long as you receive SNAP, but we will ask you to re-enroll after six months.
Not an Owner? Your cashier can help you sign up with a starting investment of as little as $5. You’ll be eligible right away.
We’re grateful to the Organically Grown Company for funding our pilot with a $5000 grant. We’ll be seeking other funding grants to continue and expand the discount, so if you know of a likely source, please email Hilary Shook, chair of our board’s Outreach Committee.
Owners: Help select our 2022 Lend a Hand recipients.
It’s time for our Owners to choose which local nonprofits will receive our Lend a Hand register round-ups in 2022.
There are 26 nonprofits to consider this year, and eight of those have never received Lend a Hand donations. We invite our Owners to select 11 organization for our monthly register round-ups. (We reserve December for a giving tree and round-ups for the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living.)
Please review the applications linked below before completing the Lend a Hand selection survey. By request, we have arranged the list into two groups: nonprofits that received Lend a Hand donations in the past and those that have not. You can also see the years an organization has benefitted in parentheses. To view prior years’ donation amounts, click here.
CLICK HERE TO VOTE. As always, each Owner account is allowed only one vote, so please discuss your choices with others in your household before voting.
Our survey will remain open through December 24th. Please contact Kristin Summerlin, Marketing & Owner Services Manager, if you have any questions.
The following applicants have never received Lend a Hand funds:
- ABC Parent Cooperative Preschool
- Fairbanks Arts Association
- Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival
- Friends of Fox Spring
- Kids Voting North Alaska
- KUAC Friends Group
- Resource Center for Parents & Children
- United Way of Tanana Valley
These applicants received Lend a Hand round-ups in prior years (noted in parentheses):
- Alaska Songbird Institute (2014)
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska (2020)
- Bread Line Inc./Stone Soup/Stone’s Throw (2013-2021)
- Breast Cancer Detection Center (2014, 2016)
- Calypso Farm & Ecology Center (2014, 2017, 2020)
- Fairbanks Animal Shelter Fund (2017-2021)
- Fairbanks Community Food Bank (2013-2014, 2018-2021)
- Fairbanks Resource Agency (2019, 2021)
- Fairbanks Youth Advocates/The Door (2013, 2015-2018)
- Friends of Creamer’s Field (2015-2021)
- Georgeson Botanical Garden Friends (2016-2019)
- Green Star of Interior Alaska (2016-2021)
- Guys Read Gals Read (2021)
- Literacy Council of Alaska (2015-2017, 2019-2021)
- NAMI Fairbanks (2020-2021)
- North Star Imagination Library (2016)
- Northern Alaska Environmental Center (2015, 2017, 2019)
- The Folk School Fairbanks (2018-2020)
IACNVL Giving Tree
Our Giving Tree for the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living is up! As in years past, we’re collecting necessities (soap, shampoo, diapers, etc.) needed at the shelter year round.
Because there’s no need to gift wrap items, our Giving Tree functions a little differently. Stop by and pick up a paper ornament for your own tree – it’s yours to keep. Drop your donated items into one of the collection boxes or baskets. And don’t forget to round up at the register to Lend a Hand to IACNVL whenever you shop this month.
Click here for a list of requested items.
Stop Anti-Asian Violence.
We stand in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Islander staff, Owners, customers, and community. We denounce racism and white supremacy. We recommit ourselves to making Co-op Market a safe and inclusive space for all members of our community.
Like cooperatives everywhere, we embrace Concern for Community as one of our core principles. We believe we all have the capacity — and responsibility — to effect change.
What can you do? Here are a few resources to counter racism, support Asian Americans, and help communities heal.*
• Learn the basics of bystander intervention. This site provides training on how to protect your neighbors and co-workers when bias and harassment occur in front of you. For the basics on bystander intervention, click here.
• Support allies of the Asian community with your dollars. One example is the Asian Pacific Fund’s Solidarity Fund, which specifically goes to organizations working to address anti-Asian sentiment.
• Take a stance on social media. Use the hashtags like #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.
*Thank you to National Co+op Grocers for identifying these resources.
