October's Change for Good Partner is

AFC Gives Community Fund

The Ashland Food Co-op has been providing support to nonprofits for over two decades. The AFC Gives Community Fund helps us support grassroots programs, respond to emergencies, and fund local projects along with Community Grants. Through the cumulative register donations over the course of this month, shoppers will help support this work in 2023 and beyond.

In 2020, we helped support our community following the devastation of the Almeda Fires.

With funds raised from the Change for Good months, we were able to contribute to these organizations:

MRG Foundation, Rogue Action Center, My Valley, SOEQUITY, UNETE, Jackson County School District #4, SOESD, Maslow Project, Family Nurturing Center, La Clinca, Our Family Farms, Ashland Schools Foundation, Rogue Food Unites, Remake Talent - Holiday Relief Event, Cascade Builders Association, and Rogue Valley Farm to School

 

In 2022, Ashland Food Co-op made a donation from the Community Fund, along with other co-ops across the nation, to a Disaster Recovery Fund organized by National Co+op Grocers (NCG) Cooperation, Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) and National Co-op Business Association of the United States (NCBA CLUSA) to Co-op Ukraine to support cooperatives impacted by the war in Ukraine.

 

Here's a look at what projects the 2021 Community Grants supported:

Bee Girl used Community Grant funds to support thousands of local bees by planting flowers in pastures to feed honey bees, native bees, and local livestock.

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Happy Smiles  helps students receive free dental health education, dental screenings, and preventive dental services at a local elementary school.

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Bellview Elementary School students building a Hugelkultur to retain water and offer nutrients to the berries that will be planted there later this month.

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“A very nice man with a host of health issues is living in his vehicle. He was out of gas and waiting for his monthly check. He asked our volunteer for a gas card, and when she also offered a Co-op gift card, he broke out in tears and hugged her.” -from St. Vincent De Paul

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Karen Taylor from Rogue Community College facilitates building water swales to divert and maximize rain water and Grange gutter water to plants in the Emerging Futures Network Food Forest.

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Rogue Action Center used Community Grant funds to open a resource and navigation center in Talent where fire recovery staff is meeting with survivors to fill out housing applicants, Oregon rental assistance applications and connecting them to other housing and financial assistance resources. 

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‘Hope for the Holidays’ provided ten families, who were survivors of the Almeda Fire, with holiday meals. The wish behind the program was to provide a few comforts of “home” during the cold winter months for families who lost their homes and are still in temporary housing. -from Heart Rising

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Oftentimes, students come to the Asante Ashland Community Hospital School Nurse Program with physical ailments such as headaches, stomach aches, and fatigue requesting medication to alleviate their symptoms, when their symptoms are actually caused by a lack of food or hydration. Having gift cards from the Co-op has given students access to healthy snacks and reduced the need for unnecessary over-the-counter medication administration, while providing an opportunity to educate students regarding the direct relationship between food/nutrition and how they feel.

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Josephine County Food Bank made their first purchase of biodegradable containers. They are “so excited to accomplish their primary goal of feeding people and at the same time relieved that [they] are not contributing plastic to the landfill.”

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Be the Change Rogue used these funds to promote Rogue To Go. Marketing the program has been helpful in reaching a wide audience, both eaters (customers) and eateries (participating restaurants), to help expand Rogue To Go across the Rogue Valley and reduce single use waste for to-go meals. 

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Any of Walker Elementary's 225 students who find themselves without a snack at school are able to have a good one, thanks in part to these funds! Walker PTO particularly appreciates the nut-free and gluten free snack options the Co-op stocks, to enable them to feed all Walker students regardless of dietary restrictions.

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Pollinator Project Rogue Valley utilized the funds to put in a 27’ x 18’ seeding area at the Ashland Emergency Food Bank to grow native pollinator plants to share with the community. Assuming success, the plants, and later their seeds, will be shared through plant sales and also garden contributions through their ‘From Fire to Flowers’ program.

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In 2022, AFC Gives has awarded $25,150 to 17 organizations!

Congratulations to these local nonprofit organizations who are receiving funding for their projects:

St Vincent De Paul

La Clinica

Walker PTO

Siskiyou School

Ashland Emergency Food Bank

Consumer Credit Counseling of Southern Oregon

Armadillo Technical Institute

Cascade Girl

Ashland Schools Foundation

Emerging Futures at Bellview Grange

Jackson County Library Foundation

Tish McFadden at Multicultural Association of S.O.

Folk Soul Farm

Ashland Parks Foundation

White Oak Farm & Education Center

Cave Junction Farmers Market

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If you are a local nonprofit interested in future funding from AFC Gives, visit ashlandfood.coop/afcgives to learn more and sign up to receive e-mail notifications when applications open.

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The Community Fund helps AFC Gives support grassroots programs, respond to emergencies, and fund local projects.

What is Change for Good?

 

The AFC Gives committee focuses on ways that the Co-op community can support local organizations and groups doing important work in the Rogue Valley.

2020 was the first year of Change for Good, a register round-up program to benefit a slate of ten organizations, voted on by Co-op owners, through the cumulative donations of shoppers choosing to round-up their shopping total to the nearest dollar.

From one cent to 99 cents, it all adds up to feeling good about supporting the community.