2007 Recipients

March: Food Net

April: Friends of Wilderness Park

May: Matt Talbot Kitchen

June: Voices of Hope

July: Nebraskans for Peace

August: Prairie Hill Learning Center

September: Friendship Home

October: Pioneers Park Nature Center

November: Food Bank of Lincoln

December: The Gathering Place

Give Where You Live: Open Harvest Community Fund

By Jean Helms, general manager and Jackie Barnhardt, outreach and member coordinator

Beginning in 2007, Open Harvest will be raising money each month for local non-profit organizations.The Give Where You Live Campaign is a national effort to support food cooperatives across the U.S. in building local Cooperative Community Funds (CCF).

Sponsored by the Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation (TPCF), each fund will serve as a means for co-op members and shoppers to make donations to an endowment that donates to local non-profit organizations.

Open Harvest was awarded a $5,000 matching grant from TPCF to start our Community Cooperative Fund and enhance our current giving. Donations to the funds will be collected at the register. At the end of each month, 75% of the money raised will go to one local organization and 25% will go towards building the CCF.

The interest earned by each Fund will be given to local groups working on issues relating to sustainable agriculture and organic food, hunger and social issues, environmental protection and cooperatives.

Many cooperatives around the world make a strong contribution to their community through this type of giving. 'Concern for Community' is our 7th Cooperative Principle. The Give Where You Live Campaign represents each co-op's special effort to give back to those deserving--and hard working--groups that build community.

What is the Cooperative Community Fund?

The CCF is an endowment fund which will be used in future years to continue our giving even in lean times. Each year, the interest is donated to local nonprofits and cooperatives in the community.

In the long term, an endowment fund is the most member-driven, tax beneficial, and permanently sustainable type of fund. Through this fund, we would be able to build on our mission by giving even more to environmental, food and hunger, cooperative, and other community related organizations. We want to educate our members about this program and get your feedback.

Now that we have initiated groundwork and planning, we want our member- owners input. If you would like more information about the CCF, go to www.community.coop or ask for info in the store. Your comments can be sent to harvest@openharvest.coop.

The list on the ballot was created from past organizations to which Open Harvest has made donations and suggestions from member-owners. We only included organizations which are local and non-profit.