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2006 Community Shopping Day Organizations

The Co-op's Community Shopping Day program gives 2 percent of sales to a selected non-profit community group on the third Saturday of each month (approximately $780-1,000). The organizations listed below were selected for the indicated month in 2006. Your purchases on the designated days helps these organizations provide services to our community.

January 21	Community-to-Community Development is a grassroots organization working to empower farm workers and family farmers to work together to ensure local agricultural systems continue to provide healthy local food produced in a just manner. Community-to-Community Development uses inclusive strategies to empower under-represented people to have an equal voice in decision-making processes, develop cross-cultural awareness, restore traditional knowledge of our food, land, and cultural practices, and to promote community relationships towards self-reliance.
February 18	Maple Alley Inn, a program of the Opportunity Council, provides nutritious, balanced home-cooked meals in a safe, respectful atmosphere and serves as a resource and outreach center for its guests. It is the only meal provider in our community for low-income, mentally ill, and homeless people that focuses on nutrition, safety, and referral services. Maple Alley Inn provides a safe, welcome environment for families two days a week, 52 weeks a year, with approximately 100 guests per day. The program's goal is to enhance the quality of life of disadvantaged people in a safe, respectful atmosphere where they are treated with dignity and have an opportunity to contribute.
March 18	Explorations Academy is Bellingham's only accredited independent high school. It focuses on experiential education, providing students with an academically challenging curriculum that is intimately linked with real world issues and events. Explorations puts its beliefs into practice by providing courses such as Ecological Literacy, Conflict Resolution, Sustainable Agriculture, and Community Building. The school also offers regional field outings and annual study and service expeditions abroad.
April 15	North Cascades Institute has connected thousands of people with nature and community through science, art, literature, and the hands-on study of natural and cultural history since its inception in 1986. The Institute is a non-profit environmental education organization that serves more than 10,000 individuals each year in school and summer youth programs, teacher education, volunteer stewardship programs, a graduate program in environmental education, undergraduate internships, and adult seminars. More than 60 percent of NCI's constituents are children and 40 percent of those are from low-income families.
May 20	Veterans for Peace draw on their personal experiences and perspectives gained as veterans to raise public awareness of the true costs and consequences of militarism and war and to seek peaceful effective alternatives. Veterans for Peace provides an alternative to military recruiters in the schools, develops educational materials, presents speakers-especially newly-returned Iraqi war vets, co-sponsors events with the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, and offers a forum for veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
June 17	Camp Kirby works to build caring, confident youth and future leaders. It provides activities such as nature and beach studies, arts and crafts, kayaking, team building, environmental studies, and outdoor living skills. Its CSD funds will be used to enrich its environmental education program with equipment, staff training, and curriculum and to offer a residential camping experience to local classrooms.
July 15	River Farm encourages the development of cooperative communities and sustainable land use practices through the preservation of land and housing. River Farm serves as an educational resource for organic agriculture, eco forestry, practical homesteading, and renewable energy. Its CSD funds will help to build a user-friendly biodiesel production system in the coming year. The biodiesel project will serve as a demonstration site for the visitors to the farm, including the crowds who come to the annual Northwest Herbal Faire.
August 19	Old Town Christian Ministries (OTCM) strives to serve the chronically homeless, the mentally ill, vulnerable youth, and those who suffer from substance abuse. They plan to direct their CSD funds to emergency rental assistance to households trying to avoid eviction or pay first-time rent and deposits. In addition to providing emergency housing services, OTCM works to provide Basic Food (Food Stamps) information and application assistance in places such as food banks, the mission, migrant camps, and at their thrift store.
September 16	Bike to Work and School Day is a volunteer organization promoting healthy, sustainable, community, and environmentally friendly transportation for all ages. Bike to Work and School Day is a growing personal, community, and environmental health movement. Its purpose is to acknowledge and promote bicycle commuting as an efficient, economical, and environmentally beneficial transportation method, good for personal and community health.
October 21	Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) is dedicated to restoring sustainable salmon runs in Whatcom County. NSEA works to provide programs in all seven public school districts and colleges in Whatcom County. Volunteers plant native trees, monitor water quality, operate a native plant nursery, and count returning salmon. NSEA involves local citizens, professional crews, non-profits, tribes, landowners, and coalitions in their salmon recovery efforts.
November 18	The Bellingham Food Bank's mission is to reduce hunger in Bellingham by providing wholesome foods to those in need on an emergency or chronic basis and by educating the community on the problem of hunger. It is Whatcom County's largest food bank, responding monthly to over 6,000 requests for assistance by distributing 125,000 pounds of free groceries to Bellingham families and individuals. The Bellingham Food Bank also supports 10 small food banks throughout Whatcom County and works to educate the community about the issue of hunger and involvement in local anti-hunger efforts.
December 16	The Mother Baby Center specializes in providing high quality health and support services for pregnant and postpartum women, their babies and their families. Funds from their CSD grant will be directed to free lactation support visits for low-income women. Their services include newborn assessments, medical management, breastfeeding support and instruction, evaluation of postpartum depression, birthing support, and family planning education. Of their 6,000 yearly RN home visits, 80 percent are to low-income Whatcom County families.