October 2020 Partner of the Month
The Littleton Food Co-op Community Fund is our October 2020 Partner of the Month! The Littleton Food Co-op is once again participating in the “Give Where You Live Campaign” through the Littleton Food Co-op Community Fund, in partnership with the Cooperative Community Fund.
This fund serves as a means for co-op members and shoppers to make donations to an endowment that donates to local non-profit organizations, either by direct donation or by rounding up at the register in October.
Even better: this month we will also receive up to $1000 in matching funds from the Cooperative Community Fund and some special sponsors, including Frontier Co-op and Equal Exchange. Every dollar that gets donated does more in October!
The interest earned by our co-op’s Fund will be given annually to local groups working on issues relating to sustainable agriculture, organic food, hunger, social issues, and environmental protection. Each year we work together to select local organizations which will benefit from this money.
Learn more about the Cooperative Community Fund on our Cooperative Community Fund Page, Here!
About our Partner of the Month Program
Through our Partner of the Month Program, the Littleton Food Co-op sponsors a different local non-profit each month of the year. All of our Partners are locally focused, socially and environmentally responsible, non-political, and secular. Partners are chosen by our Members by popular vote, and each organization typically receives anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000.
We help to raise funds a number of ways:
- Round Up: Customers paying with a credit or debit card may round up their purchases and the balance goes directly to the Partner of the Month.
- Donation collection boxes with partner branding are placed at each register.
- Messaging about our partners is included in our weekly e-newsletter, social media posts, on our website, and in our weekly newspaper ads.
- Posters and flyers are displayed on our Community Board and around the store.
- Opportunities to meet our members, including info tables, grocery bagging, and other events.
Meet the 2021 Partners of the Month!
The following organizations were chosen by our Members to be our 2021 Partners of the Month:
Above the Notch Humane Society
Boys & Girls Club of the North Country
The Bancroft House – A Family Sanctuary
Second Chance Animal Rescue
Littleton Area Senior Center
Copper Cannon Camp
Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, Inc
Mt. Eustis Ski Hill
Organized Acts Of Kindness For Seniors (OAKS)
Learn more about this year’s voting process and each organization here.
How Our Partners Are Chosen
Each year in August we promote the candidates running for the following year’s Partner Program, and our Members select the final Partners by popular vote. Voting is typically done online and by paper ballot, but this year for safety reasons we held voting entirely online. Only full or partial Members may vote by casting a ballot, and Members may vote only once per household.
The organization with the most votes gets first choice for their preferred month. Then the next organizations choose their preferred month, in the order of votes earned. We divide the organizations into categories each year so that there is a diverse variety of groups being supported; if any categories are not represented we choose the organization with the most votes within a category and add it to the final list.
In January, October, and November of 2021 we will be supporting the Healthy Food Access program, the Littleton Cooperative Community Fund, and area food pantries respectively. In the event of an emergency situation that needs funding, we will contact the Partner for the month to see if they are willing to forfeit Round-Up earnings for three days.
Please note that organizations may not be a Partner of the Month for more than 2 consecutive years, but are welcome to apply in the third year.
If you have questions about our Partner of the Month Program, please contact our Community Outreach Coordinator, Becky Colpitts, at bcolpitts@littletoncoop.org
Apply to Become a 2022 Partner
The deadline to apply for our 2021 Partner of the Month Program was August 1, 2020, and applications for 2021 are now closed. If you’re interested in finding out more about our program or would like to become a Partner in 2022, please e-mail bcolpitts@littletoncoop.org.
The Application Process
Each year in August our Members choose 8-9 organizations for our Partner program via popular vote. We want our Members to make an informed choice and also learn about the great work being done in our community, so we put together lots of promotional materials about the candidates, print flyers for the store, share posts and videos on social media, include information on our website and in our e-newsletter, and we also offer the opportunity to set up a table during our Partner of the Month Fair.
Partners must be a local 501(c)(3) non-profit, or under the umbrella of an established 501(c)(3) organization in the area. Please note that organizations may not be a Partner of the Month for more than 2 consecutive years, but are welcome to apply again after that.
