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SHARE-WS Cooperative | September 2020
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THE SHARE CHRONICLE

OUR STORY
Monthly Edition  |  September 2020
Harvest Market Online Grocery Sales Are Open!
SHOP HERE!

The Cutting Edge


SHARE is officially selling food; which means that we have distributors bringing food to our store. Over the past year, we've connected with a whole host of food distributors, and we're excited to share the cutting edge work of our new partners at Foster-Caviness! 

Building Community Through Food

Foster-Caviness is local to Greensboro, NC and has its roots all the way back to the early 1900s. From their humble origins, Foster-Caviness now distributes fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy all throughout the Carolinas and Virginia.

We at SHARE were impressed by Foster-Caviness's commitment to supporting local food. They have partnered with over 55 local farms, and they serve their food to 57 school districts. SHARE prioritizes community-focused work, and we're proud that Foster-Caviness shares our values. 

So what is SHARE's Harvest Market selling from Foster-Caviness? We've stocked up with three of the Foster-Caviness food boxes: their Fruit Box, their Stay Healthy Box, and their Veggie Box. Each of these boxes is full of enough food to feed a family of four for a week—all for around $30. This helps us to proudly fulfill our promise: providing fresh, healthy, affordable food to all residents who need it. 

We're excited about our future with Foster-Caviness and with all of our other partners, and we're excited to see you coming through our doors too!


           

Sowing the Seeds of Cooperation
This past week, SHARE's Harvest Market began its online grocery sales! Now we've got food coming through our door and leaving in your hands. 

We owe such deep gratitude to everyone who has supported us—City and County officials, foundations and nonprofits, and most of all, our Member-Owners who have committed to our vision. That's why for the next month, until October 21st, our soft opening is specifically available for Harvest Market Member-Owners. You've been our champions, and now it's time for us to give back to you.

How'd We Get Here?

So let's do a little recap: why does our community need this grocery store, and where are we going from here?

Food insecurity is a dire issue here in Winston. The city has 21 food deserts and 61,000 food insecure individuals—an issue that disproportionately affects minority and low-income residents. Heartbreakingly, 49.7% of Black residents in Winston-Salem have low or no access to healthy food.

In the Harvest Market's neighborhood, 40% of the 4,000 residents live below the federal poverty line. The area is also a food desert, which means that there is no access to healthy, affordable food for local residents.

The brick-and-mortar Harvest Market is set to open by the new year. We'll not only provide that healthy, affordable food, we're also creating 30 full-time, living-wage jobs filled by people living here in our neighborhood.

Especially in light of COVID-19 and our continued struggles with systemic racism, the need for food access for everyone is greater than ever. Our dream is almost a reality; let's take these last steps together.


Your friends at,

SHARE Cooperative
We need funding for our brick-and-mortar store
DONATE HERE!
Look for our sign so that you know where to park!

HELP WANTED!

If you are a SHARE Member and want to volunteer to make SHARE better,
Here's your chance – We are recruiting volunteers to answer our Customer Service phones and to make follow-up telephone calls to improve our shopper experiences.
If you would like to volunteer, please call Linda at the SHARE Office,
336-283-3299. Her email is: Linda@Share-ws.coop

Thanks for all YOU do...
"
 
The Reverend's Corner

As I write for the September issue of the SHARE Chronicle, several moments cross my mind. Firstly, this is the eve of my birthday, and a time of reflection for our journey together.

We are now two months away from our first anniversary of the SHARE Chronicle. The newsletter has grown immeasurably, and the updates and recognitions are always on point. This month, we also had some fits and starts with the opening of the central location for our Harvest Market. We have been challenged with meeting the financial investment for the project in its entirety, but we learned that we didn't need all of the funds to move forward with establishing the infrastructure to put our WebCart (our eCommerce) into place. We have had great success with inviting others onto the SHARE Team and using their gifts to forward our programming work. We are also moving forward with the Food Pharmacy Pilot Program to provide healthy food as a prescription for low-level illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure. And yes, the Harvest Market WebCart Online Buying platform is being launched as we speak. I hope that you go online to see how far we've come with this sector of our food market.

Throughout COVID-19, we have learned that we are not alone in our desire to move forward. We realized that there are supportive members and network partners excited to make financial investments in SHARE. These are the hopeful markers that keep us focused on the goal of providing food for those in need while also laying the foundation for a space where authentic self exists to build flourishing community for all residents. However, we still need more involvement from our local community members.

Our goal for our community is to sustain the models that are bringing us into a post-pandemic world. The old normal forced centuries of racial, social and economic injustice on people of color, low-income Americans, and other vulnerable communities. This legacy of sustained inequality has come to bear, as our communities—yet again—are hit hardest. If we don't push for real change, those disparities will only be compounded in the months and years to come. Right now, we have an opportunity to re-imagine a new model—a new normal—that protects our residents equitably and brings us closer to the ideals of equality and justice.

With the Harvest Market, we are building leadership by completing our "Board development and governance training" this month. We are also addressing the need for personnel additions, such as our General Manager and our E-Commerce Associate. We have interviewed several candidates and have identified one for further consideration through an in-person interview.

In Jon Steinman's The Grocery Story—a "how to" text for co-ops—we are reminded that food cooperatives empower us to nurture long-term healthy relationships to our food, our community, and to the Earth. They make it possible to "be the change" rather than the sheep. They make it possible to invest our food dollars into generations that follow us.

However, we must admit that we struggle with living in this new normal because we only know one way to unite community. The traditional way that we have lived, separated for centuries, still plagues us on every side. I resonate with those who admit that our nation is a mess right now, and I find it difficult to stand up against those who believe differently. However, we must stand fast and persist to achieve what we desire—building community anew while addressing food insecurity. Lastly, we must participate in the democratic process and vote to elect a government that will bring about its new normal of justice, equity and inclusion for all.

And so, I repeat my closing from the May issue, "Let's lift up the voices of those who have struggled unfairly for living amid systems that neglect their health, safety and well-being. Let's think creatively about what we can do to create a justice-focused new normal for all of us. And let's rid our system of those that stand in the way of equity and justice by committing to not only desire a new normal but also to join us at SHARE Cooperative as we establish our new normal of providing healthy, nutritious and affordable food in a just community right here in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina!" 


Sincerely,

Rev. Willard Bass
Co-founder

Ephesians 6:12-13

 
Visit us at 603 Peters Creek Parkway and follow us on social media! 
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SHARE Cooperative of Winston-Salem, NC
Our email address is:

info@Share-WS.coop
office: 336-283-3299
www.share-ws.coop 

 
Copyright © 2020 SHARE Cooperative of Winston-Salem, NC, All rights reserved.


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