Double Dollars and Pantries of Plenty Results
Throughout November and December, you helped us raise $13,138 for Double Dollars. WOW—that is amazing and we thank you for your support! We said that when you contributed to the Double Dollars Fund, we would do a 1:1 match up to $15,000 using abandoned Owner equity to support our Pantries of Plenty neighborhood pantry partners: Goodman Community Center Fritz Food Pantry, Lussier Community Education Center, Middleton Outreach Ministry, The River Food Pantry, and Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center. You met our match for $13,138 with cash donations and savings due to your reuse of bags! Thanks to you, each food pantry will receive funds to use on fresh items that are harder to come by in the winter season. We appreciate your support of the Double Dollars program and our neighborhood pantries. This means that a total of $26,276 has been put into our local giving economy to help support those who are food insecure during these long winter months.
As a reminder, Double Dollars is a nutrition incentive program to help those using FoodShare/QUEST purchase fresh or frozen fruits, vegetables, legumes, and seeds and seedlings for growing edible plants. The Double Dollars season runs from October to May at the Co-op and June to November at participating farmers’ markets. The Double Dollars Fund, with your cash donations and bag reuse combined, has provided over $378,600 to the program since April 2017.
The Double Dollars match benefiting our food pantry partners is made possible through abandoned and donated Owner equity. When Owners leave the Co-op, their equity invested belongs to them and they are given the option to have their equity refunded or donated to use for charitable purposes such as this match and the Community Reinvestment Fund grants.
Double Dollars—Good News Alert!
In late 2022, I had the opportunity to partner with several Double Dollars stakeholders, including the American Heart Association and Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin to advocate for additional funding for this program at city and county levels during their budget season for FY23. I am pleased to report that with our collaborative efforts, this program was given an additional $125,000 for our budget year to help distribute during the farmers’ market and Co-op distribution cycles. We want to give a big thank you to the city and county leaders who helped approve and pass this budget line item, and give this program a larger voice concerning the positive impact it creates for Dane County residents throughout the year. We acknowledge there are so many worthy Dane County social programs these leaders must consider, and these budget decisions are not easy. We appreciate the time, effort, and deliberation it took—thank you! Additionally, we are grateful to the American Heart Association for championing the program, and WKOW for picking up the story and providing us an outlet to spread the word about Double Dollars at large, this budget cycle win, and how folks in our community can both support and utilize the program. To see more information on this news story, please visit WKOW.
Holiday Giving Update
During this season of giving, you helped contribute to Madison Reading Project to help distribute 15,000 books this holiday season to local Dane County children. Thank you to everyone who either dropped off a book(s) at our stores and/or financially contributed via their QR code! Additionally, you were able to help contribute winter gear to Middleton area residents this holiday season through the City of Middleton’s Keeping Neighbors Warm collection drive. Lastly, throughout the entire year, you helped CHIP at our registers, with a 1% donation of your total grocery bill, helping support the Community Shares Program. In the 2022 calendar year, you helped raise $152,053.63 for 70 nonprofits that bring awareness and change for local social and environmental justice. Thank you for your generosity for all Co-op supported programs this year, it is truly heartwarming and appreciated!
Reminder: Access Discount Renewals Due March 31
The Access Discount Program is an Owner benefit available to those with a financial need and offers a 10% discount on your purchases as well as a longer time period to pay any outstanding Owner equity ($4 per year for Individual Owners, $7 per year for Household Owners). Additionally, you will receive one free cooking class per year. When you enroll in the Access Discount Program, the benefit is activated throughout the calendar year. If you still have a financial need at the end of the year, you must renew by March 31 in order to continue receiving the benefit. Current Access Discount participants will receive reminders in mid-February, and those who have not renewed by mid-March will receive a second reminder. To protect the privacy of our Owners, we do not provide renewal reminders at the registers.
Applying for the Access Discount is quick and easy at the Customer Service desk, and you do not need to bring any special information with you. Following completion of a simple form, you will sign that you agree to the terms of service. You may qualify if you are receiving support from the FoodShare/QUEST Program (SNAP); Medicaid (BadgerCare/Senior Care); the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Section 8 Housing Assistance/Community Development Authority (HUD); the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI); the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP); FairShare CSA Coalition Partner Shares; the Free or Reduced School Lunch and Breakfast Program; Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program; Wisconsin Works; Heat for Heroes; or Early Head Start/Head Start. You may also qualify to receive the Access Discount if your annual gross income within the last year has been at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guideline (FPG). FPG charts are available on the Access Discount form.
The Access Discount Program is supported by our annual sales income, currently, that equates to .51% of our sales. In FY2022 the Co-op distributed $339,326 in discounts via the program to 1,635 Owners. To learn more about our Access Discount Program, please visit our website under the Ownership tab.
Questions about Access Discount Program renewal or enrollment can be sent to ora@willystreet.coop.
Additionally, this year begins the work of our Access Discount renewal committee. Thank you to all who are helping continue to evaluate this program and how we can best serve our community through this offering. Any additional findings or changes to this program will be highlighted in the May newsletter once our work is completed.
Heads Up: New Register Procedure Starting February 1st
As Anya mentioned in her General Manager’s Report, you will be seeing an updated procedure as to how you will be asked about your ownership at our registers and Customer Service desks. You will be asked for your Owner number and then for the name on the account, which you will verbalize, not the staff member. For those who have been Owners for many years or decades this may feel different, but after evaluation of our current procedures, we want to bring a more inclusive operational policy that makes everyone feel welcome. In this way, you will be in control of how your name is pronounced, not our staff. It is one more step to help verify we have the correct account. We hope this new procedure will alleviate the times that you have come into our stores and we have mispronounced your name. Thank you for your willingness to try out this new method and we look forward to bringing a welcoming checkout experience for all.
