Weaver Street Market awards grants each year to local nonprofits for community projects that focus on “Access to Healthy Food.”
The grants come from our Cooperative Community Fund (CCF), a sustainable endowment fund for community donations. WSM grows the endowment fund through contributions from owners and shoppers, including the purchase of Hope for the Holiday products, proceeds from wine shows and co-op events, and donated owner dividends and shares. The endowment’s current value is $332,247.
Grants are paid from the interest that the endowment fund generates. Each year, a committee of consumer owners and worker owners evaluates grant applications and selects recipients. Since its first grant award in 2006, the CCF has awarded grants to 40 local nonprofit organizations for a total of more than $60,500.
$5,000: Tierra Fértil Co-op, a worker-owned Hispanic farmer cooperative in Hendersonville, for a refrigeration system for the farm to increase the shelf life of their products and support the overall capacity of the farm as they expand their CSA this year. Read about Tierra Fértil here.
$1,180: Women’s Center in Raleigh for a wash-and-prep station to process the produce from its community garden.
$2,410: Transplanting Traditions Community Farm for a “hardening-off” hoop house to expand its capacity for germinating transplants on its 8-acre community farm.
$2,000: McDougle Middle School Garden for a greenhouse to extend its growing season and provide a more diverse selection of produce.
Learn more about this year’s grant winners here.
Here’s a list of past Cooperative Community Fund Grant recipients.