Want to know more about the candidates? Mark your calendar for the Annual Meeting! October 27th, from 1-4 pm at the Olympia Ballroom. Great food, candidate speeches and the first round of member discussion on recent research into whether the Co-op should change our legal status (currently, we are a not-for-profit under RCW 24.03.) We look forward to seeing you there!
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Board Candidate: Kim Chaplin
Why
do you want to be on the Co-op Board of Directors?
Central to the coop is safe food, social justice, and cooperative structure. As well, the coop stands at the center of the local food system.
I want to be involved during this time of farm revival and local food production.
I am proud that the OFC is not merely a health food store: it has a built-in conscience that addresses injustice with the amplified voice of a group of consumers.
I want to learn more about coop process and organization, gaining skills to spread the coop economic model.
The coop's working member program is where I adopted a regular, committed volunteer ethic. Now I want to volunteer time and energy to understanding and helping steer our unique local resource to thrive as it upholds its mission statement.
What general abilities would you bring to the Board? What specific abilities and experiences would you offer to help provide direction in dealing with the Co-op’s challenges?
Listening, patience, desire to learn, logical thinking, empathy.
Consensus experience and facilitation skills.
Business training with Enterprise for Equity.
Involved with the peace and social justice community (OMJP) and with food self-reliance (GRuB).
Worked as a high school teacher, a caregiver for elders, and a food and landscape gardener.
Trained in permaculture design, which emphasized land systems, and included social systems.
What do you see as current strengths of the Co-op that you would like to see maintained? What would you like to see changed?
Strengths: The mission statement, good food, community partnerships, community classes, staff trainings, free store, working member program, newsletter.
Continued effort to change: More access for more people.
What vision do you have for the Co-op for the next five years?
I see the coop continuing to support health, social justice, and our local economy. I see us continuing to reject GMOs, and products whose sales increase injustice. For the local economy, the coop sells and promotes local produce and groceries; employs people at a living wage; offers classes that stimulate creativity and self-sufficiency; fosters volunteerism; offers discounts, credits, and staple foods; houses TULIP, a low-income credit union; it trains staff and board members in consensus and coop structure, increasing coop culture/skills in the community. I see all these positive programs continuing and expanding.
Central to the coop is safe food, social justice, and cooperative structure. As well, the coop stands at the center of the local food system.
I want to be involved during this time of farm revival and local food production.
I am proud that the OFC is not merely a health food store: it has a built-in conscience that addresses injustice with the amplified voice of a group of consumers.
I want to learn more about coop process and organization, gaining skills to spread the coop economic model.
The coop's working member program is where I adopted a regular, committed volunteer ethic. Now I want to volunteer time and energy to understanding and helping steer our unique local resource to thrive as it upholds its mission statement.
What general abilities would you bring to the Board? What specific abilities and experiences would you offer to help provide direction in dealing with the Co-op’s challenges?
Listening, patience, desire to learn, logical thinking, empathy.
Consensus experience and facilitation skills.
Business training with Enterprise for Equity.
Involved with the peace and social justice community (OMJP) and with food self-reliance (GRuB).
Worked as a high school teacher, a caregiver for elders, and a food and landscape gardener.
Trained in permaculture design, which emphasized land systems, and included social systems.
What do you see as current strengths of the Co-op that you would like to see maintained? What would you like to see changed?
Strengths: The mission statement, good food, community partnerships, community classes, staff trainings, free store, working member program, newsletter.
Continued effort to change: More access for more people.
What vision do you have for the Co-op for the next five years?
I see the coop continuing to support health, social justice, and our local economy. I see us continuing to reject GMOs, and products whose sales increase injustice. For the local economy, the coop sells and promotes local produce and groceries; employs people at a living wage; offers classes that stimulate creativity and self-sufficiency; fosters volunteerism; offers discounts, credits, and staple foods; houses TULIP, a low-income credit union; it trains staff and board members in consensus and coop structure, increasing coop culture/skills in the community. I see all these positive programs continuing and expanding.
