Each year, members of the Food Co-op get to nominate their favorite local non-profits to receive funds via the Beans 4 Bags program.  The nominations are then narrowed down to 12 + the food bank by the Board’s Community Engagement Committee. This year we had more organizations apply for these funds than ever before! All the groups do great work, which made it a super tough decision. The groups selected represent the values that are important to our coop and community: food access, land & sea stewardship, people/housing and cooperative principles.

The Beans 4 Bags program is a huge driver of our yearly donations to local nonprofits. Not only does it benefit some really amazing organizations in our community, but it enables our members to give where their heart leads them. 2022 donations will total over $18,000. That is money going directly to nourish our community. So reuse your bags, and vote with your bean!

How the Program Works:

The Food Co-op rewards people for their sustainability efforts by giving 8 cents back for each reusable bag used. You can then either keep the bag credit, OR get a bean.   Get a bean, you ask?  If you choose a bean (= $.08), you can choose where that money goes by dropping that bean into a jar, which represents 1 of 3 non-profits in the Jefferson County Community.   Non-profits are nominated by member/owners and chosen by a committee.  Two jars are rotated out bi-monthly, the third jar represents the Jefferson County Food Bank, which is supported year round.

2023 Recipients

**Jefferson County Food Bank is supported year round.

JUL/AUG

3.       Marine Science Center

4.       Community Build

SEP/OCT

5.       The Food Bank Growers

6.       Heartberry Playschool

NOV/DEC

1.       Camp Beausite Northwest

2.       Housing Solutions Network

JAN/FEB

1.       The Warming Center

2.       Bayside Housing

MAR/APR

1.       StyroCyclers

2.       PT Potential

MAY/JUN

1.       Dove House

2.       Jump Playground

You can learn more about our Beans 4 Bags program at Foodcoop.coop/beans-for-bags

Members can learn how to be a part of the Community Engagement Committee by emailing CoopBoard@foodcoop.coop