Volunteer Opportunities! Exciting Updates!
February 2024 Newsletter
Thank you to our 776 paid members and our 2,800+ newsletter subscribers who have joined us and helped spread our co-ops mission in our community!
If you’re not a co-op member, we invite you to join us by investing in the Charles River Food Co-op today.
Volunteer
Opportunities
Interested in getting more involved? We’re looking for volunteers!
Join us at our board meetings, finance committee, and marketing committee meetings. You can find dates and joining information for all our meetings here:
https://charlesriverfood.coop/calendar
Currently, we are specifically looking for the following positions:
The Marketing Committee is looking for a Media Partnership Coordinator to join the marketing committee and help expand our local media presence. We’re looking for someone to help us manage connections to local publications, outlets, organizations, and more! If you are interested in this role, email us at marketing@charlesriverfood.coop
The Site Selection Committee is looking for two volunteers to assist in selecting our store site and our professional Project Manager Hiring process. We are looking for individuals with experience in commercial real estate, real estate law, construction, project management, retail management, and/or finance. If you are interested in this role, please email us at finance@charlesriverfood.coop
Member Spotlight
Marc Rudnick, CRFC Member #308
I have a lifelong commitment to the Cooperative movement — I lived in a commune for five years, was an early member of the Boston Food Coop and later the Cambridge Food Coop. My friends and I started a pre-order coop in Waltham in 1990 — when we couldn’t get it off the ground as a storefront business, we started the Waltham Farmers’ Market instead, still going strong after 33 years.
I spent my working life as a renovation contractor in a worker-owned and worker-run cooperative business. Along with renovating hundreds of homes in greater Boston, we built out the Toscanini’s Ice Cream stores, the Cambridge Food Coop space that is now H-Mart, two Cambridge Naturals shops, two Rancatore’s Ice Cream shops, the Lucy Parsons Bookstore in JP, and even had a hand in creating the Opera Company of Boston's former home in the Theater District. We were founding members of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.
Locally, I have been involved as a founder of many non-profit efforts in Waltham, including the local Land Trust, the Hardy Pond Association in my neighborhood, the community garden, and an affordable housing non-profit. I also served in a variety of municipal roles, including 17 years on the Zoning Board of Appeals.
My favorite vegetable is any one that I can turn into a delicious curry or Thai noodle dish — I started learning Asian cooking after my first trip to Thailand in 1986, so cilantro and garlic hold special places in my dietary repertoire.
Message from the Board
This month has been an exciting one in the startup food co-op world - the Food Co-op Initiative has hosted a series of 22 webinars over the last several weeks that help groups like ours get organized and hone our ideas to make our stores a reality. We’d love to invite you to check out some of the content from these presentations, given by food co-op experts from around the country on this YouTube playlist. We loved one talk from JQ Hannah, the Assistant Director of the Food Co-op Initiative which previewed what the next stage of development will look like for our co-op and the challenges for our board:
Here's a link to this talk if you're curious: FCI Live: Ownership Matters (late stages).
It’s so exciting to see what lies ahead for us: finding our site, launching a capital campaign, and finally getting our doors open. This is our path forward, and we’ll need your help to make it a reality! Please check out our volunteer opportunities above and get involved with organizing this community effort.
Community News
Where to Buy Stuff You Use to Buy at Russo's
We checked some recent posts about items people used to get at Russo’s, from the Life after Russo’s facebook page, and here are some highlights.
Andouille Sausage
Most supermarkets and local markets
Fresh Daikon Radish
India Market (315 Moody St., Waltham)
Large Pizza Crust
Fresh Currants (seasonal)
Dried Strawberries
Whole Foods
Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seeds
Latin products
Fresh Squid Ink Pasta
Got another favorite food find? Share it with us at info@charlesriverfood.coop
Watertown Food Insecurity Round Table
Co-op of the Month: Franklin Community Co-op
Franklin Community Co-op is a thriving worker owned business in the Greenfield, MA area. Started as a buying club in 1977, the Montague Food Co-op was the first incarnation of Franklin Community Co-op providing natural foods to the region. Their first storefront location in Turners Falls was entirely volunteer-led, with their first working-members receiving a discount in exchange for their work. In December, 1986, co-op members formally incorporated as the Franklin Community Co-op. The more than 5700 member-owners expanded the business several times, and now operate 2 storefronts, Green Fields Market on Greenfield’s Main Street, and McCusker’s Market, in Shelburne Falls. Their Capital Campaign for yet another expansion ended on Sunday, October 1 and received $1.63M in member loans and non tax deductible donations! They stand as a shining example of what a group of motivated member-owners can accomplish.
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,
Board: Melissa, Tim, Nick, Christina, Allison, Joelle, Kathryn, Sonya, and Scott
Newsletter Team: Joelle, Simone, Scott, and Kathy
P.S. If you missed any of our previous newsletters, you can find them on our website.