We collected donations for Minnesota community relief at our registers February 2–15, and we were truly amazed at the response. Customers donated $53,104 during that time, and the Co-op matched the first $10,000, so $64,104 is being split between the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and Groveland Food Shelf. These organizations will use the funds for:
- Legal aid resources for immigrants
- Home food deliveries for those that feel unsafe to leave their homes
- Fund long-term recovery needs
- Meet other needs that emerge
Both non-profits have been vetted in Candid (formerly GuideStar) as upstanding nonprofits and are organizations that our Twin Cities co-op neighbors are already partnering with.
The funds from the Co-op match will come from abandoned equity, which is money Owners invested to join the Co-op but that they did not claim before leaving. Owners have the right to request the invested equity be returned to them if they end their Ownership.
As a reminder, we continue to work on a list of more locally focused resources (at willystreet.coop/resources-to-support-community-members). At each of our locations, we also have “Know Your Rights” cards in English, Spanish, and Hmong for anyone who finds it helpful to have one on hand.
