News you can use June 30th.....

Community Meeting

Following the Farmers Market last Sunday, June 27, the Board of Directors hosted a CreekSide Co-op member meeting at High School Park.  Members received an update on the status of the USDA loan, a decision on which is expected by the end of summer.  They also learned that the Farmer's Market is a Co-op success story which has generated about $7,500 in revenue to date.  The members were also polled and seem satisfied with the frequency, clarity and methods of the Co-op's communications.

The Co-op has a total of 1,250 member households and is looking to enroll another 400 member families before our store opens.  We are looking for opportunities to speak about CreekSide Co-op before community organizations so please contact us to let us know of interest.

Co-op Fundraiser

We are excited to announce a Co-op fundraising event called "Music and More" that will take place at the Elkins Estate on November 14.  Stay tuned for many more details including opportunities for volunteers. Feel free to contact fundraising committee members at fundraising@creekside.coop if you have ideas or services to contribute.

Membership

Would you be interested in hosting a membership house party for the Co-op? If you have friends, neighbors or acquaintances who have not yet joined the Co-op, please consider hosting one of these parties. It's a great way to reconnect with friends while helping to support the CreekSide Co-op.

We will be organizing a series of house parties over the summer and early fall and would love to add your house to our venue list! Please contact membership@creekside.coop for more information.

Member Equity Payments

Another way to support the co-op is to add on to your member equity payment. Keep in mind that you can greatly aid our cause by adding on as much of your $400 full share as you can. This will help us forestall any shortfalls until we get word on our loan applications. Just visit the co-op website at www.creekside.coop and click on the member equity link on the home page to add more equity.

Fruit and More Produce at the Farmers Market

Last week's harvest on display at the CreekSide Co-op Farmers Market at High School Park  included cherries- sweet & sour, some exceptional blueberries, Italian and Russian kale, pea shoots, curly purple kale, green leaf lettuce, Boston lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, spring mix, Asian greens mix, radishes, collard greens, amaranth, arugula, strawberries, asparagus and Swiss chard. 

The greater Elkins Park community was out in large numbers on June 27 sampling, shopping and schmoozing at the farmers market.

There will be no Farmers Market this coming weekend in observance of the July 4th holiday but we will be back on Sunday, July 11 with more beautiful, fresh, locally-grown produce and other products.

Co-op Communications

In the effort to avoid any confusion, keep in mind that our regular weekly e-mail comes out on Thursdays and our farmers market hot sheet on Fridays. That and our letterhead on the e-mail is one way to distinguish our communications from other community-related electronic communications you might receive. Please contact our communications committee at communications@creekside.coop if you have any questions or are confused about CreekSide Co-op communications.

As you get ready to enjoy the upcoming July 4th weekend, please know that the board of directors continues to work energetically for you in addressing the many financial, organizational, legal and communications issues associated with transforming the vision of CreekSide Co-op into a reality.  Thank you for your ongoing confidence and support and happy Fourth of July!

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors of the CreekSide Co-op

News you can use June 24th.....

CreekSide Co-op Member Meeting

Come out this coming Sunday, June 27 after the Farmers Market has finished in High School Park. We will be meeting at 2:30 p.m. in the park, so....

-Bring your chairs

-Bring your check books

-Bring your sunscreen

For those members that are in need of assistance, we will have a limited # of chairs already available.

Also, if there is a call for severe rains on Sunday afternoon, we will send out a notice by 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening if we have to invoke the "rain date" for the member meeting, which is July 11.

The Farmers Market will continue “Rain or Shine” from 10:00AM to 2:00PM.

And Speaking of the Farmers Market

We have heard from many members, along with several local farmers that the Sunday market is not always convenient to their schedules.

Because the CreekSide Co-op Farmers Market at High School Park has become one of the most successful farmers markets in the greater Philadelphia region, we have many farmers that would like to participate, but cannot due to either previous obligations and/or religious reasons.

We are in the early stages of researching the viability of adding a Thursday afternoon/evening Farmers Market to our schedule!  This would allow us to add new farmers to our schedule and expand our product offerings to our members.  Keep an eye out for the details in a future E-News.

Beverages, Dry Goods & Other Non-Perishables…

Starting this coming Sunday, CreekSide Co-op will begin selling “non-produce” products at the Farmers Market.  Ryan Youngman (your General Manager) would like to begin utilizing the Farmers Market to gauge the level of interest in various non-perishable products to see what our members would potentially like to see stocked in the co-op when it opens.  Each week we will be selling different types of products (drinks, cereals, grains, etc.) so there will always be something different!

It will be a great way for Ryan to get direct feedback from the members about what you may want to see stocked in the co-op in the future, and a way to raise additional revenue during the summer months for CreekSide Co-op.

Music & Silent Auction!

The Board and several volunteers are working to pull together an afternoon of merriment & exciting things for you to bid & win!

            Sunday, November 14^th – 2:00PM to 5:00PM

The details are being worked on as we speak.  Please mark your calendars for this wonderful fundraiser! 

The committee is seeking musicians/volunteers to play music for our members and also for people to donate products & services for the silent auction.  If you would like to donate your talents (musicians) or have a product or service that you would like to donate for the silent auction, please send an email to neighbor@creekside.coop.

News you can use June 17th....

CreekSide Co-op member message for June 17, 2010
 
New Pesticide Guidelines
 
Hey Co-op members,
 
We thought you'd be interested in these new guidelines from the Environmental Working Group, an organization dedicated to educating Americans about better eating habits.
 
The EWG's guidelines on which fruits and vegetables tend to be more heavily laden with pesticides should help you decide when to spring for organic produce.
 
The EWG's "Dirty Dozen" - those conventionally grown items that tend to have the most pesticides - includes celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale, cherries, potatoes, and imported grapes. Those are foods that you might want to think about buying from an organic producer.
 
Conventionally grown foods that don't tend to contain so many pesticides, the EWG's so-called "Clean 15," includes onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mangoes, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potato, and honeydew melon.
 
We hope when you are talking to and buying from our vendors at the farmers market, these guidelines give you some support for healthier shopping choices. The EWG guide is available for download HERE, so you can cut out your own guide to take shopping. 
 

CreekSide Co-op Farmers Market
 
Speaking of the farmers market, we'd like your feedback on what you feel is working and what isn't working for you at our weekly Sunday farmers market. Is there a particular product that you feel any self-respecting farmers market should have and that ours doesn't? Is there something being sold at the farmers market that you feel shouldn't be there, some product or sales approach that rubs you the wrong way?  Go ahead, contact us at neighbor@creekside.coopand let us know your thoughts.
 

Fundraising
 
It's never too early to think ahead and that's why members of our fundraising committee are asking members to save the date of November 14, which is when the Co-op will be hosting an auction and music fundraiser at the Elkins Estate. Co-op members with a special skill, product, or service they can offer are being asked to consider donating that resource for our fundraising auction. Please contact a member of the fundraising committee atfundraising@creekside.coop to contribute.
 

Member Equity Payments
 
And speaking of contributing, we continue to beat the drum for members who haven't contributed their second or third year of member equity to please do so. That means if your household has contributed $50, please consider contributing another $50 toward your full member equity total of $400. Even if you've already reached your $400 full share, please consider contributing more so that we can make it over the hump until we receive the state and federal loans we've applied for. Visit the CreekSide Co-op website atwww.creekside.coop and you'll find a member equity tab right there on the home page. 
 
Visit  the CreekSide Co-op website at www.creekside.coop and you'll find a member equity tab right there on the home page or just click HERE. We are going to make this store happen, but we need your help to do it.

Member Meeting
 
Don't forget, June 27 is the Member Meeting at 2:30 p.m. in High School Park, following the farmers market. We'll shoot for a rain date of July 11 if the weather doesn't cooperate.
 
Sincerely,
 
The management and board of directors of the CreekSide Co-op
 


We're on Facebook!
We have set up a CreekSide Co-op Fan Page to continue to keep members and the public informed of our progress. 
If you are a Facebook member, simply click HERE to 
"Become a Fan."


C

News you can use June 10.....

June 10 CreekSide Co-op Member Message

Isn't it interesting how quickly we become attached to people, places and things? For sure, this year's Arts in the Park celebration on June 6 in High School Park was a huge success. But many members of the community mentioned how much they missed the CreekSide Co-op Farmers Market.  Well, we all have to be patient for a few more days until the farmers market returns on Sunday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Also hungry for an update on the start-up of the Co-op?  If so, you are cordially invited to attend the next CreekSide Co-op Member Meeting on June 27. The exact details of the location were being worked out at press time but it looks like the meeting will be held in High School Park at the conclusion of the farmers market after 2 p.m. on that Sunday. An alternative facility is being sought as a rain location. This will be another opportunity to hear first-hand from the Board about the latest on the USDA loan application as well as other co-op business and related community matters.

Speaking of updates, on July 11, General Manager Ryan Youngman, accompanied by two board members, will be traveling to Brooklyn for the next meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Food Co-op Alliance at the Park Slope Food Co-op. The Park Slope meeting will include lunch and a tour of the co-op as well as a food co-op alliance business meeting. This will be a great opportunity for Ryan and members of the board to see another co-op in operation and network with other co-op general managers and board members. There will be more than 30 co-ops represented at this meeting.

Remember that www.creekside.coop is the place to visit for current information on the Co-op. There you will be able to become a member or contribute additional member equity to your account and help us meet our financial needs in advance of the approval of the USDA loan. The board is asking all members who have contributed their initial $50 member equity payment to please contribute additional equity.

Regards,
The CreekSide Co-op Board of Directors



We're on Facebook!
We have set up a CreekSide Co-op Fan Page to continue to keep members and the public informed of our progress. 
If you are a Facebook member, simply click HERE to 
"Become a Fan."

The vegetables are here at the CreekSide Farmers Market!