Food Co-ops Raise Over $147,000

Last fall, the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) and its member and associate co-ops -collaborated on two initiatives with fantastic results: 

$106,500 raised for World Food Day

Working with our affiliate co-ops, consumers and other partner brands, NCGA raised $106,500 to help end childhood hunger in America; exceeding our $100,000 goal by nearly 7 percent! 

This initiative, held in October 2012, brought together three events that highlight NCGA and our member co-ops: October as national Co-op Month; World Food Day on October 16, 2012; and 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives.

Funds raised were donated to the national nonprofit Share Our Strength in support of the organization’s No Kid Hungry® campaign. Partner brands included Alaffia, Alter Eco, Divine, Dr. Bronner’s, Equal Exchange, Frontier, Nutiva, Once Again, Organic Valley, and Shady Maple Farms.

$41,076 raised for cocoa cooperatives

Last year, NCGA developed two limited-edition chocolate bars that were available for sale in affiliate co-ops from October to December. These chocolate bars were made in partnership with Theo Chocolate, and 50¢ of each purchase was directed to support the two co-ops that produced the cacao for the bars: Fortaleza del Valle cocoa cooperative in Ecuador, and the CEPICAFE cocoa cooperative in Peru.

We’re pleased to report that we sold 82,152 bars, resulting in a total donation of $41,076; exceeding our $30,000 goal by nearly 37 percent! Donations may be used to address needs in a variety of areas including governance, health and education, empowering farmers, or quality and yield improvements.

We’re honored to be part of initiatives that are truly building a better world, and we’re excited about the possibilities that other cause promotions and limited-edition items present us in the future!