By Catherine Day

High summer means exceptional produce and other fresh treats at Hampden Park Co-op.

In mid-July, the EAT LOCAL Farm tour allowed co-op enthusiasts to connect with their growers and learn about farm life.     

Your board of directors has been busy this last quarter. The long-range planning team led by board member Delonna Darsow has convened two groups to tour the 100+ year-old building and identify strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for our headquarters.

Board members were joined by community leaders, including Jamie Flannery of Flannery Construction and Geoff Warner of Alchemy Architects, to discuss the potential of the building and ways for the co-op to improve the shopping experience and expand our capacity.

We plan to share more about this vision at our annual meeting, scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Urban Growler.

General Manager Matt Hass reports we have applied for a loan to finance a new cooler for the deli section. The soups, hot bar and deli are a popular part of the store and the cooler must be reliable. We are working with Shared Capital on the financing and they have a special interest in the store’s efforts to be inclusive, equitable and just.

We highlighted to Shared Capital our roundup efforts as an example of our priority for supporting important nonprofit missions.

The first-quarter roundups supported the Immigrant Law Center, Friends of the Mississippi and the Keystone Midway Food Shelf.

April roundup dollars totaled $1,434 and are supporting the Creative Enterprise Zone and its annual Chroma Zone Mural Festival. An additional mural will be added to the co-op as part of the festival.           Roundup funds also supported pollinators. Thank you for your generous support of these programs.

On another front, the membership team, led by board member Rose Shannon, has promoted the co-op to potential new members by attending local community events. In mid-July the membership team had a table at the District 10 Ice Cream Social at Como Lake. During National Night Out, they plan to host events at various south Saint Anthony Park neighborhood apartment buildings.

With the expert assistance of Ellen Squires, we have a survey ready to go out to members and shoppers. Look for an email with a link to the survey, or a QR code in the store and on the website. We are eager to learn more about your opinions about the co-op.

We also plan to elect two new board members in October. Applications are available on the website or by emailing [email protected]. 

Catherine Day is president of the Hampden Park Cooperative.