This month’s working group meeting has been cancelled.

 The co-op has made a lot of great progress, but right now we are moving along well and waiting for some external elements to fall into place.

 If you have questions, comments, or want to volunteer, please contact Mac mac@nolafoodcoop.org.

There will be an Open House Preview on Saturday, June 13th, 2009 – 10:00am to 1pm, at the New Orleans Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Avenue. Senator Mary Landrieu, as well as other state and local leaders, will be making remarks. There will be a free catered brunch, live music, spoken word, children’s activities, a crafts bazaar, and other information and activities demonstrating the services that will be offered at the Healing Center.

The New Orleans Food Co-op will be opening within the Healing Center, and we will have a big information table at the event. All NOFC members are encouraged to come out and show support of our co-op to the Senator and the community! It is imperative to our fundraising efforts that we have as many of our members present as possible! Please invite your friends and family to come out as well.

The New Orleans Food Co-op Action Team has also moved its bi-weekly meetings to the Healing Center. The next Action Team meeting will be held on June 8, 2009 at 6pm in the Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Avenue. We have a great deal of exciting work to do before we can open our store, so please come to the meeting to collaborate, give input, and find out how you can be involved!”

The New Orleans Food Co-operative is hiring a part-time Project Assistant. The Project Assistant will staff the Co-op’s office, creating a consistent public interface. He/she will assist in coordinating the Co-op’s monthly informational potlucks and will represent the NOFC at community events to promote the NOFC and sign up new members. He/she will maintain the member data base, the potential member data base, update the NOFC website and coordinate volunteer workers. In addition, he/she will assist the Board’s Treasurer in maintaining the Co-op’s finances on Quickbooks.

The Project Assistant will be the public face of the New Orleans Food Co-op. Candidates should be community oriented, friendly, professional, and possess exceptional written and verbal communications skills. Candidates should also have excellent computer skills, be detail oriented and be a self-starter. The Project Assistant must be prepared for the job requirements to change and grow as the NOFC moves toward opening our store and the needs of the organization change and grow.

Compensation will be $15/hr, up to 20 hours a week.
The schedule will be somewhat flexible, but the Project Assistant must be able to occasionally work in the evenings and on weekends.

Please send resumes and cover letters to azugmoore at gmail dot com.

Hello Co-op friends!! This is your weekly Co-op news. This week
we gained one new founding member bringing our current total to 442.

Our Site Search Committee continues to search for a site for
our first storefront. We have investigated sites on Canal St., Broad
at Esplanade, Decatur St., St. Claude, and the St. Roch Market. We
were prepared to attend a meeting scheduled for tonight discussing
the future of the St. Roch market. Our board and site search
committee feel that this site could be a good fit for our co-op and
wants to explore this possibility with the city. That meeting has
been canceled and will be rescheduled before the end of the year. If
you would like to be on our Site Search Committee please send an e-
mail to Site Search.

Our fundraising committee has recently applied for two
substantial grants. We have applied to the Mayor’s Office of Recovery
and Development Administration for the 2008 Economic Development Fund
Grant. In this grant application the NOFC has requested $174,000. We
have also applied to the State Legislature of Louisiana for their
2009 Capital Outlay. In this application we requested over $440,000.
Our Fundraising Committee is seeking people to help search for grants
and funding sources and compose and edit grant applications. If you
are interested in being involved with this committee please send an e-
mail to Sarrah.

Our next Action team meeting will be held Monday, November 24
from 7-9 p.m. at 623 North Rendon. The Action Team is the steering
committee of the NOFC. The mission of the Action team is to do all
the necessary work of opening a storefront and making recommendations
to the Board of Directors. These meetings are open to the public and
a great entry point for those wishing to get more involved in our co-op.

I would like to thank those who attended Monday potluck dinner.
We shared a delicious meal and met a few people who are new to our co-
op. Our potluck dinners continue to be a good way for members of our
co-op to get to know each other better and exchange ideas. We will
continue to host these potlucks monthly, and I’ll let you know soon
where our December potluck will be held.

Have a great week!!

John Calhoun
New Orleans Food Co-op

The New Orleans Food Community, Inc. announces our annual member meeting on Wed., October 15, 2008 at 7 p.m. in the Holy Angels cafeteria at 3500 St. Claude, at Gallier. We’ll be electing our new board of directors for the following year, and will vote on any proposed bylaws changes (members may propose changes at the meeting). This will also be an informational meeting to discuss the progress our co-op has made since last year’s annual meeting, and changes in our future store location (the Sept. 3 meeting was cancelled due to the hurricane evacuation).

Anyone can attend this meeting, but you must be a member of the NOFC to vote. It is necessary for a person to be paid in full before they are a voting member of the NOFC. We encourage those who are making payments toward membership to complete their payment before or during our annual meeting so that you can participate in this democratic process.

Nominations for Board of Directors

We are now accepting nominations from those wishing to serve the community on our board of directors. Any member of the New Orleans Food Community, Inc. is eligible to serve on our board of directors. Our board of directors will consist of no more than nine and no less than five members. Any member is eligible to run for a board position. We are encouraging those who have a strong commitment to our community and vision for the NOFC to consider running for the board of directors. Also, members with co-op or grocery, business/financial, legal, or previous nonprofit board experience would be an asset to our future board.

Please know that serving on the NOFC board of directors is a commitment of both time and energy. Those intending to serve on the NOFC board of directors should plan for the following: regularly attending our monthly two-hour board meetings, serving on one of our committees, spending a minimum of 5 hours a week on co-op related activities, and attending a retreat in early November for board training and team building as well as other, ongoing, capacity-building opportunities.

If you are interested in serving the NOFC on our board of directors, please include a statement with your reply to this e-mail. This statement could include a summary of your work, education, and general background, especially as it applies to cooperatives; special skills or qualities you bring to the process of governing the co-op; and your intention for serving on the board of the NOFC. All candidate statements will be sent out via e-mail to our members before the Oct. 15 meeting date, and copies will be available at the meeting itself. All nominees will have an opportunity to make a statement during our annual meeting. Nomination at the member meeting is also allowed.

Site Search Committee

It is unfortunate that we will not be able to open in the Healing Center on St. Roch and St. Claude as once planned. Our membership is actively searching for a new location and we encourage you to be part of this process. We are forming a Site Search Committee, and any member of the NOFC can be a part of this committee. The first Site Search Committee meeting will be held Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Flora Cafe and Gallery, 2600 Royal St., corner of Franklin in the Marigny. If you are interested in being a part of this committee you can reply to Amanda Zug-Moore, or to Erin Laine, or just show up at Tuesday’s meeting.

Members Are Owners

Remember, as a member you are an owner of our co-op. Our yearly democratic election that takes place at our annual meeting is one of the great things about being a member of a co-op and sets us apart from other grocery stores. I look forward to seeing you on October 15 as we come together as a co-op and come closer to our dream of opening a cooperative grocery store.

Sincerely,

Erin Laine
Secretary, New Orleans Food Community