Dear Abundance Shareholders and community members,
As many of you may already be aware, an estimated 6,000 of our friends and neighbors in Monroe County will not be receiving the SNAP benefits they should rightfully be granted on November 1st. Abundance Food Co-op is working on ways that we can serve these members of our community through our FLOWER* Program and our partnerships with local food kitchens.
* FLOWER stands for Food Local Organic Within Everyone’s Reach
Here’s How YOU can MAKE A DIFFERENCE
PAY-IT-FORWARD Campaign:
One thing YOU can do to support your fellow customers here at Abundance that rely on SNAP benefits is to contribute to our PAY-IT-FORWARD program (Also known as the Abundance Community Relief Fund). You can pay any amount you would like into the account and the funds will be used to help those who did not receive their SNAP benefits for the month of November receive the food and essentials that they need.
As a point of reference customers using SNAP benefits spend about $23 of SNAP on average per shopping trip here at the co-op.
This program will be in place until New York States SNAP benefits are fully funded again. Thank you for participating in any way that you are able to.
Pay-It-Forward with CONVENIENCE! You can contribute to our Abundance Community Relief Fund online!
Simply go to the e-gift card on our WebCart website.
Select an amount.
Put “Community Relief Fund” in the Recipient Name section.
Send the e-gift card by email to: hello@abundance.coop
You can pay any amount you would like the funds will be used to help those who did not receive their SNAP benefits for the month of November purchase the food and essentials that they need.
Food Drive:
Abundance Food Co-op will be collecting food donations to be delivered to a local food pantry to help meet the demands of non-perishable food items.
We are incredibly fortunate to be part of a beautiful and generous community. In the spirit of giving, we are partnering with two wonderful Food Pantries, House of Mercy and The People’s Pantry of Rochester, to help keep their shelves stocked and have much needed items readily available to those in need.
As you are shopping, please keep these organizations in mind and do what you can to contribute. We have reserved shelving in front of the register area designated to collection.
The People’s Pantry: The mission of The People’s Pantry is to provide groceries to individuals and families to help mitigate the effects of food insecurity with dignity and without bias or discrimination.
We have also compiled a list of Monroe County food pantries that you can donate directly to. This list is up by our register area. Simply ask one of our front end staff to view.