12 New Food Co-ops and Groups Receive Howard Bowers Day Grants

Washington, DC (Feb. 28, 2011) - The Howard Bowers Fund of the Cooperative Development Foundation is pleased to announce $10,000 in grants to new and about-to-open food co-ops and groups organizing food co-ops across the country.The grants are the result of fundraising done specifically for this purpose by food co-ops nationwide as part of their annual observance of Howard Bowers Day.  “Cooperative groceries pick a day each October to be ‘Howard Bowers Day’ and donate 1% of their receipts for that day to support education and training for food co-ops staff, management, and boards,” said CDF Executive Director Elizabeth Bailey.  “In 2007, the focus for Howard Bowers Day was made more specific — the training needs of newly-formed co-ops and groups who are organizing food co-ops — and this focus has been retained for Howard Bowers Day.  This is another marvelous example of co-ops helping co-ops, the 6th Cooperative Principle, as the established food co-op community mentors a new generation of food co-ops by providing financial resources for training on operations and governance at this critical stage of development.”

Two co-ops will receive grants of $1,000 each and ten will receive grants of $800 for staff training for all positions and board training in leadership skills, becoming a more effective board, fundraising, membership recruitment, strategic planning, and transitioning from community organizers to business managers:

Bay Ridge Food Co-op in Brooklyn, NY

East Aurora Cooperative Market in East Aurora, NY

Fairbanks Community Co-op Market in Fairbanks, AK

Friendly City Food Co-op in Harrisonburg, VA

Green Hill Food Co-op in Brooklyn, NY

Kalabash Food Co-op in Brooklyn, NY

Lovettsville Cooperative Market in Lovettsville, VA

Manchester Area Consumer Co-op Society in Manchester, NH

Monadnock Community Market Co-op in Keene, NH

Queens Harvest Food Co-op in Woodside, NY

Stone’s Throw Market Co-op in Troy, OH

Sustainable Sea Cliff Co-op in Sea Cliff, NY

The Howard K. Bowers Fund of the Cooperative Development Foundation was established in 1993 to honor Howard Bowers, an outstanding food co-op general manager. The Fund’s focus is the education and development of board members, management, and staff of food cooperatives.  The Cooperative Development Foundation (www.cdf.coop) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization promoting economic development through innovative cooperative enterprise.