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Dear Members,
In my last few letters, we went over our Ends and the seven cooperative principles. But how is Newark Natural Foods applying these important concepts in our everyday operations? It’s been my goal to always have a project in progress for each one of our Ends. It is important that we are always working towards leading cultural transformation by nurturing economic, ecological, and social sustainability.
Fostering food security through better access and affordability
Our marketing manager has crafted and will be leading the project pursuing this end. We will be formalizing our process for bilingual signage and literature in our store which will improve accessibility for those in our community who do not speak English as their first language.
Connecting with our community and welcoming all
I have started a conversation with the Newark Area Welfare Committee to be our first formal partner for Cooperators in the Community volunteer program. The program will allow members to volunteer with partner organizations in our community and earn working credit in the form of store discounts.
Empowering healthy and sustainable living through education
We are continuing to develop our educational speaker series. Our next event will be on June 9th at 1:00. We will have Double Spiral Chocolate out to talk about their fermentation process. We are hoping to have speaking events like this once every two months.
Promoting a stronger and more resilient local economy
Internally, we are setting goals in each of our departments to consistently increase our local purchases, and we are developing formal ways that the co-op can support and incubate small businesses and local producers who are just getting started.
As we move towards our Ends, I want to hear from you. If you have a suggestion for a project that moves us towards our Ends, you can send it to info@newark.coop. My next letter will be about the ways the co-op is committed to the cooperative principles that provide the backbone of our organization. Stay Tuned!
All the Best,
Catherine Hallman
General Manager
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