Food Co-op

FOOD CO-OP

     The last few months we haven't been getting an adequate turnout of volunteer help so that the Food Co-op can continue to grow and expand.  So at the Wednesday night meetings we have worked out a system of paying people that help with the work in order to insure that the Co-op will continue to operate now and in the future.  There are a number of various jobs that need to be done Saturday and throughout the week in order for the Food Co-op to work.  There's 12 one-day-a-week workers in all:  8 people leaving for Detroit between 4:30 and 5:00 Saturday morning to buy the food and load the trucks, at least 3 people at each distribution point to coordínate the activities of bagging the food and taking orders and another couple of people at Forest to do the cleaning up.  Plus there is work that needs to be done all week like taking orders, renting trucks putting together the newsletter. . .

     After presenting this proposal to the members of the Co-op last Saturday in our newsletter it was decided Wednesday, Nov. 10, at our meeting that we begin this new system of paying the people that do the bagging, assistant buying, loading, coordinating the bagging, order taking and cleaning on Saturdays--all those people get one order of food free.  Along with this is the other work that goes on at the Rainbow House and at the Main Street distribution point all week long--all the work involved in the overall coodination of the Co-op.  Those two houses will get their food free (Main St. one order and the Rainbow People's Party four orders) plus a small payment for the time they devote to it.  Main St. has three people that work every week taking orders, coordinating all the work at their house on Saturday and taking all the trash to the dump--they will get $15.  The Rainbow House takes the bulk of the orders, rents the trucks and in general coordinates the workers and the jobs to be done--they will get $20 a week.  Our expenses then will include 17 free orders of food per week ($68) and $35 for Main St. and the R. P. P.  Our other costs are renting the trucks--$30 a week for Whit's and another $15 for a community truck plus it's driver (who is also a loader) and about $12 for gas.  This amounts to $160 or just 13% of the total money taken in for orders--a very small over head for all the work involved.

     This is not going to effect the quality or the quantity of the food we're getting--we had almost the same expenses before when we used to take out 5% of the money for a Truck Fund when we wanted to buy a truck.  We have since checked it out and decided that we really wouldn't be able to save any money owning a truck because of the up-keep so we have discontinued the Truck Fund and will start this new system.

     This plan also suggests a system for running the Food Co-op that we will be able to use in the future--that is, we need one overall manager or coordinator who should be available for fulltime work and be paid a subsistence wage, two or three part-time assistants who would get a smaller wage and a bunch of Saturday workers.  All the workers at least get free food, insuring their commitment--and also to see that the People's Programs support the people that run them as well as helping everyone in the community that they serve!

     Speaking of people to help--we will still need volunteer baggers on Saturdays at each distribution point from about 11:00 a.m. till about 1:00 and you get the first choice of all the surplus food!  We also still need another distribution point around campus or the hospital area--a basement or some inside space to bag the food.  It is needed to help take the load off Forest so that it can operate smoothly and so we can serve the people in a more organized manner--there just isn't enough room there to work efficiently.

     These and many other things are discussed at our weekly meetings, we will be deciding at them who is to work on Saturdays and how the work is to be done--if you have any ideas, suggestions, criticisms or complaints please come and share them with the rest of us, Wednesday nights, on the 3rd floor of the S.A.B. at 7:30.

  SUPPORT THE PEOPLE'S PROGRAMS! BUILD SELF DETERMINATION! ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

                                 Peggy Taube, R.P.P.