by Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
It’s time for some important updates about Double Dollars, the Access Discount, and my goodbye and well wishes. Read on to find out about food security in our community, services available to you when you are in financial need at the Co-op, and how you can continue to support local shoppers inmeeting their needs.
Double Dollars Distributed Through March 8 and Redeemable Through May
It is hard to believe, but we’re already a week away from wrapping up our sixth Double Dollars distribution season at the Co-op. From October 19-February 1 the Co-op had already distributed $62,000 in Double Dollars vouchers to shoppers using FoodShare on Double Dollars Tuesdays. FoodShare is Wisconsin’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a public benefit that helps people pay for groceries when they are in need of additional support. Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin has details about FoodShare and information about how to register on their website: www.secondharvestmadison.org/find-food/foodshare.
Shoppers using FoodShare still have two more Tuesdays to get Double Dollars at the Co-op before the season ends (today, March 1 and Tuesday, March 8). Simply shop on one or both of those Tuesdays and for every $5 you spend using your FoodShare QUEST card for any FoodShare eligible items, the Co-op will give you one $5 Double Dollar voucher, up to $20. The vouchers can be used at any Willy Street Co-op retail location on any day through May 2022 to purchase all items in our Produce department; canned and frozen fruit, vegetables and legumes; and seeds and seedlings for growing edible plants. If you are unable to use all your Double Dollars vouchers by the end of May, you may keep them for the next Double Dollars season starting next October. More information about how the program works can be found at www.willystreet.coop/double-dollars.
Wisconsin FoodShare Usage Continues to Increase
Last January we reported that participation in FoodShare in Dane County had increased by 10,000 people since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. This past January, The Cap Times reported that FoodShare participation in Dane County is up 11% over last year, and has nearly doubled in the last five years. Dane County is not alone in seeing this increase in economic need in our community; statewide FoodShare participation increased 22% between August 2021 and January of this year, and reports from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services indicate that SNAP programs across the country are experiencing unprecedented levels of participation.
This trend has made an impact at our Co-op and on the Double Dollars program as well. The retail arm of the Double Dollars program launched at the Co-op with $45,000 in seed funding from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grant in October 2016. Since then, voucher redemptions at the Co-op have increased 29%, with a total of $59,243 redeemed in Fiscal Year 2021. Program usage has also increased at the local farmers’ markets. In 2021 redemptions were more than twice the redemptions seen at farmers’ markets in 2019. FoodShare usage overall at the Co-op is up as well; now used as a form of payment on about 4% of all transactions Co-op wide compared to 2% of transactions in Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020.
Support Local Families Using FoodShare
Double Dollars is a City of Madison and Dane County program that supports shoppers using FoodShare county-wide, and it currently costs about $300,000 to operate the program and provide vouchers for shoppers at the Co-op and six local farmers’ markets. The program is available at the Co-op from late fall to late spring, and at local farmers’ markets from late spring to late fall. The program is made possible in partnership with Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, participating local farmers’ markets, and Willy Street Co-op. Funding for vouchers is currently supported by Dane County, a Federal Community Services Block Grant provided to the Community Action Coalition, private donors, and the Co-op’s Double Dollars Fund established in April of 2017.
Double Dollars continues to need your support. A simple way to support the program is by reusing bags at checkout at the Co-op. The cashier will tally each reusable or reused bag you bring in and you will then notice on your receipt that the Co-op made a contribution of 10¢ per bag to the Double Dollars Fund. We can do this because the Co-op saves money each time you choose to reuse a bag rather than taking a new one; instead of spending more money on paper bags, we can give it to Double Dollars to support our shoppers using FoodShare for shopping with the Co-op and local farmers instead.
Shoppers also support the program by making a cash donation. You can elect to make a donation at the registers by choosing a $1, $5, $10, or $25 scan card for the cashier to apply to your receipt. We also offer the opportunity to donate to Double Dollars on our pickup and delivery platform shop.willystreet.coop. Type “Double Dollars” in the search bar, and the options for making a donation can be added to your cart. Donations can also be made directly to Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin at www.cacscw.org/services/food-security/double-dollars. We continue to appreciate your ongoing support for this clearly important and valuable program for our community.
The Access Discount Program Also Supports Owners In Need
Not everyone who has a financial need always meets the eligibility to participate in the FoodShare program. Our Access Discount Program is an Owner benefit available to not only Owners using FoodShare but others with a financial need as well. Owners enrolled in or using Medicaid (Badger Care/Senior Care), the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) (accepted at Willy North), 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, FairShare CSA Coalition Partner Shares, the Free or Reduced Lunch and Breakfast Program, the Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program, Wisconsin Works (W-2) (TANF), Early Start/Head Start, Heat for Heroes, and Owners with income at or below 150% of the federal poverty guideline (FPG) are eligible to participate. FPG charts are available on the Access Discount form.
The program 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). When you enroll in the Access Discount Program, the benefit is activated through the calendar year. More information about the program is available at the Customer Service desk at all three locations, and on our website at www.willystreet.coop/ownership/access-discount-program.
The Access Discount Program is supported by annual sales income. In FY2021 the Co-op distributed $301,778 in discounts via the program to 1,371 Owners. That means 0.5% of our sales support just about 4.3% of active Owners. The best way to support the Access Discount Program is to shop the store. Thank you!
Access Discount Renewals for Current Participants Due March 31
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 Access Discount benefit. In fact, it is now time for our annual call for current Access Discount program participants to renew. Current participants were sent 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.
Renewing or applying for the Access Discount is easy at the Customer Service desk. It is the exact same process to apply or renew and you do not need to bring any special information with you. Renewing or applying requires completion of a simple form that says you qualify, and your signature that says you agree to the terms of service. If you do not renew by March 31, you won’t receive the Access Discount until you re-apply, but you can re-apply at any time.
Farewell To You
By the time the Reader is published, I will have resigned as Cooperative Services Director for Willy Street Co-op, and moved on to different work in the cooperative sector. It has been my pleasure to support Willy Street Co-op these past eight and a half years. Times certainly have changed from starting in 2014 during Willy East’s remodel. Since then we have expanded our services not only to more shoppers with low income, but also new neighborhoods (Willy North), and we also have more space to offer services to our shoppers at Willy West. Our support for people in our community has extended from Wisconsin to across the country and around the globe, supporting people with food and supplies when natural disasters struck in Nepal, the Philippines, Louisiana, Texas, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Australia, the east, west, and gulf coasts and more. We also continue to weather this challenging pandemic, providing essential services while doing our level best to keep our workforce and shoppers safe. We have done so much together and still have so much more to do. I am forever grateful and inspired by the kindness, creativity, tenacity, and talents of my fellow employees, our Board, our Owners, our community, and our wonderful Cooperative Services team, past and present. I look forward to continuing to support our Co-op with my Ownership as it gets closer to its fifth decade. Be kind, and continue to support each other in our common quest to eat well and serve our local community.