Co-op Arts Walk 2013!

Come join us at the Co-op Arts Walk Space -- #97 on the map -- 610 Columbia.  We'll be there 5-9pm tonight and 12-8 tomorrow!

Martha has just begun to set up her stained glass and mosaic work.  Stunning!

Jules and Jesse setting up

Christine putting the final touches on her "Antniks and Rootluks" display.

Proposed Board Agenda: April 18th, 2013

Board meetings are held every 3rd Thursday at the Co-op's downtown business office -- 610 Columbia St.  Members are welcome to attend.

Agenda Item	Action	Time
Announcements	share	2 min
Mission Statement & Commitments Review	share	3 min
Member Comment	listen	10 min
Staff report	listen	5 min
Report Back from NCGA Meeting (Niki)	listen	15 min
Bylaws Review Committee: Next Steps	discuss	30 min
Financial Report	discuss	30 min
Committee Reports Board committees include: Outreach, Finance, Personnel, Local, Co-op Development, Hiring, Member Relations and Expansion. Currently, these reports also include two task forces: legal structure review, and bylaws review.	share	40 min
Executive Session	discuss	30 min

Traveling Co-op Quilt Now at Westside Olympia Food Co-op Until May

It was 1997 and Ann Hoyt, one of the directors of the Urban Cooperative Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin, was trying to decide what to auction off for a co-op education fundraiser.

Hoyt had been traveling the country for a number of years, collecting co-op t-shirts when she'd explore other stores.
Someone suggested making a quilt from those shirts and
donating the creation to the auction. Even though Hoyt wasn't a seamstress, she knew where to find assistance: Anne Hopkins of Good Food Co-op in Lexington, Kentucky flew out to help. The general manager of Willy Street Co-op in Madison, WI, Anya Firszt, designed the quilt. The three cooperators spent four days assembling and sewing the quilt together. The hemming, binding, and finishing were done by Keiko Sakuma-Neubauer of Kokua Country Foods Co-op in Honolulu, Hawaii, starting the new co-op quilt on the national journey from which it would never leave.

The patchwork, bearing the logos of 54 co-ops across the country, inspired the creators to suggest sharing the living history. They chose to auction the quilt for the privilege of
displaying it. A few years and two more co-op quilts later, one of those objects of pride is being displayed at the Westside Olympia Food Co-op

"The quilts are used each year as auction items for a fundraiser that supports the Howard Bowers Fund," explained Chris Maher, BriarPatch Co-op General Manager. The Howard Bowers Fund is named for a general manager of the Hyde Park Cooperative Society, a "first wave" co-op that was established during the Great Depression. Bowers dedicated five decades of his career to supporting cooperatives throughout the country. The total raised since the Fund's creation is $91,845. The Howard Bowers Fund creates grants from those funds for new and about-to-open co-ops.

"The region of the country that raises the most money for the fund has the honor of displaying the quilts in their member stores throughout the year," said Maher. "This year, the 37 co-ops in the region raised over $10,000 for the fund."

Proposed Board Agenda March 21, 2013

Board meetings are held at the Co-op's downtown business office at 610 Columbia St. Members are welcome to attend.

Proposed Board Agenda for March 21, 2013 6:30-9:30 pm

Agenda Item	Action	Time
Announcements	share	2 min
Mission Statement & Commitments Review	share	3 min
Member Comment	listen	10 min
Staff report	listen	5 min
Membership Database and Point-of-Sale Merge We have an opportunity to merge our membership database with our new POS system. What should the process for considering this option include?	feedback	30 min
Garden Center Business Plan Shall we open a Garden Center at the Little House property?	consent	90 min
Committee Reports Board committees include: Outreach, Finance, Personnel, Local, Co-op Development, Hiring, Member Relations and Expansion. Currently, these reports also include two task forces: legal structure review, and bylaws review.	share	40 min

                                                               Total Meeting Time:        3 hours 

Co-op Day of Support for St. Peter's Workers: Thursday at 5PM!

What: We invite Co-op members to join us in supporting local healthcare workers (who, ironically, have had their healthcare cut.)

When: Thursday, March 14th at 5PM

Where: Providence St. Peter's Hospital, 525 Lilly Rd. NE, Olympia, WA. 98506


“I have a child with disabilities and with Providence’s healthcare cuts, I will NOT be able to get my young child to the doctors and therapies she needs. How can Providence make my child fail in her growth to become the best person she can be with her disabilities, just to save a buck that they don’t even need?”
Sabrina Duncan, Health Unit Coordinator, Providence St. Peter Hospital

Healthcare Workers Lose Access to Healthcare

Members of SEIU 1199NW recently had their healthcare benefits cut - meaning that the people who help keep us healthy will find it harder to access the very services that they provide!

As the union says:

On January 1, 2013, Providence implemented a new healthcare system for its employees that eliminated the comprehensive PPO and replaced it with a risky, expensive high-deductible catastrophic plan. While the PPO was just one of four options under the old system, more than half of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members at Providence St. Peter relied on that option to get quality, comprehensive, affordable care for their families.

Plan	2013	Deductibles (individual / family)	Out of pocket maximums (individual / family)
PPO	Eliminated	$250/$750	$1,500/$4,500
HSA	Becomes the base plan	$1,500/$3,000	$3,000/$6,000

The median Providence St. Peter member of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW earns $31,000 a year, so the increased family deductible represents nearly 10 percent of income—a huge burden for a working family. Even if an employee qualified for Providence’s HSA contribution—and only about half did last year—the deductible increase is still a big bite out of a family budget.

Providence’s new plans provide just the legal minimum free preventative care and wellness tools required by federal law. But national studies show that of catastrophic plan participants, 26% report not filling a prescription and 25% report not getting a recommended test or treatment because of the cost.[1] These plans in effect deny preventative care because enrollees either don’t understand how the plan works or fear high costs should a serious condition be diagnosed.

Read more at SEIU's website.

Best of Olympia 2013 - Volcano Staff and Readers pick OFC

Thanks to the Staff and Readers of the Weekly Volcano, who have picked the Olympia Food Co-op for their Best of Olympia 2013 special edition.  We work hard for our members, and it's an honor to be picked!

Volcano Readers pick the OFC as Best Grocery Store

and

Our Deli's Salad Bar, chosen by Volcano Staff, is nestled right between Tamale Fusion and Blintzapoolaza, which is a grand place to be.  Here's the pic they snapped of Salad Bar bliss:

Lava you much, Volcano!

Teamsters 117 sign 5-yr deal with UNFI - Strike is Over!

Here's a link to the Teamsters 117 website, where they explain the details behind the good news that the Strike is Over!  See our blog homepage to scroll through the list of events leading to this newly signed contract.

Congratulations to everyone involved!