Welcome to our April newsletter. We now have more than 675 paid members! We keep seeing momentum month over month - thanks so much to our 30 new members since March!! If you want to join us and you haven't yet, please do so here:

Our next membership goal is to get to 850 members by July 1. You can help us spread the word by forwarding this email, printing and posting a flier on a local community bulletin board, or sharing our posts on social media.

***Members Kyra and Zola Norsigian (#664) at Earth Day in Newton in April!***

Board/Volunteer Open House: May 22nd, 8:00pm on Zoom

Are you interested in helping us out this year or running for a position on our Board of Directors? If you are a member, you are eligible to run for a board seat! We’ll be holding an Open House on Zoom on Monday May 22 at 8pm if you’d like to ask questions and learn how the co-op works - and how you can help out. We’ll do a quick presentation about how the board works and volunteer opportunities, and then be open for a Q&A! Register here:

https://forms.gle/PXRBQSMKjUEGeC4q6

We’ll send out another reminder as we get closer!

Our biggest volunteering need right now is a Treasurer, so if you or anyone you know has a finance or accounting background, please encourage them to attend our Open House or reach out to us to see how they can help!

In addition to the Open House, our board meetings are open for all current members to attend. Please reach out to us at info@charlesriverfood.coop if you have any questions about running for the board or if you’d like an invitation to join our meetings.

Election Timeline Update

We’ll be running our first board election coming up soon! You can learn more about the elections and ask questions at our Open House on May 22 at 8pm.

Our timeline is as follows:

April: Finalize board election process
May: Determine date for Owner Meeting; Hold Board/Volunteer Open House
June: Finalize site for Owner Meeting; meet with board candidates 1:1
July: Board candidate packets published; finalize election results committee
August: Finalize Owner Meeting agenda + Promote it!
September: Owner Meeting/Election; announcing results of election
October: Determine board named officer positions

Member Spotlight

This month we’re featuring Sean Dazet (Member #571), who has been volunteering with the board to help us with our marketing efforts

What town do you live in?

Newton, MA

What do you do for work and/or for fun?

I own a sales consulting company (airtightselling.com) and spend a lot of my free time outside with my kiddo and dog.

Why did you decide to become a member of the co-op?

I believe in sustainable foods and supporting local businesses.

What is your favorite fruit or vegetable and how do you prepare it?

Avocado! I put it on just about everything but my favorite way to eat it is on a breakfast sandwich.

Community News

Earth Day in Newton

Thanks to all the volunteers and to everyone who visited our table at the Earth Day event this past weekend! Tabling season is starting up soon, so please let us know if you’d like to help out with events by emailing info@charlesriverfood.coop.

Waltham Farmers’ Market looking for volunteers!

The Waltham Farmers’ Market is looking for volunteers for our 33rd season, the Market runs every Saturday, rain/shine, from June 3rd through October 28th. Check out their flyer here for more info!

Local co-ops opening soon!

We’re part of a trend nationwide and region-wide - 10 new food co-ops are opening this year. Of note are two in our region opening quite soon:

Assabet Co-op Market - Maynard, MA; 10,400 total sq ft; opening late spring 2023
Dorchester Food Co-op - Boston, MA; 6,057 total sq ft; opening summer 2023

Contact your Representatives: Support food system amendments in the House budget!

There’s a ton of local impact in the food system that your local state reps should care about if you have time to bug them about it. Check this page on food system amendments for a list of the topics up for voting. Use the Find My Legislator tool if you don’t already know who to email!

How You Can Help the Co-op

The biggest thing that you can do to help us is simply to forward this email to your friends and community listservs, post on social media and other groups like Next Door, put up a flier in your local ice cream shop or house of worship, and generally help us raise awareness. If you have any other ideas for how we can reach new potential members, please let us know!

Gift Memberships Available

You can now purchase a gift membership on the website for anyone you choose. When you purchase a gift membership, an email will be sent to the recipient alerting them of the offer. When they choose to accept the offer, the recipient fills out the online membership form and they and their family become a fully qualified lifetime member. You can use the link below to get started:

https://charlesriverfood.coop/gift

As always - thank you so much to all of you for your support and please spread the word by forwarding this email to a few friends.

In co-operation,

The Charles River Food Co-op Board
(Nick, Melissa, Thomas, Tim, Christina, Lissa, Lew, Benny, & Jen)

P.S. If you missed any of our previous newsletters, you can find them here.

Get Involved: Check out our Open House in May!