US Federation of Worker Co-ops Sustainer Drive 2013

Got Love for Worker Co-ops?  Join as a USFWC Sustainer! Have you been looking for a concrete way to support the growing worker cooperative movement?   How about helping the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives reach our goal of 200 Sustainer members by December 31st?     Sustainer Members are individuals who value the US Federation's work and commit at least $10 a month to provide reliable, community-sourced revenue that we can use to do things we might not be able to do with grants. Years of hard work are starting to bear fruit in the form of a growing movement. Now is the time to ask our allies for a sustained commitment of support.   "The U.S. Federation has now become the primary source of information and analysis for the worker cooperative field.  I became a sustaining member because I want to support leadership that is driven by the worker cooperatives themselves." Steve Dawson Founder of Coop Home Care Associates  Bronx, NY Your sustainer membership will fund our Federation's ongoing work to build our members' power and amplify our voices in discussions of the new economy we are building. This is work that builds a movement. And grassroots movement-building requires grassroots funding. That's 200+ of YOU. At $10 a month. Easy peasy! "I'm pleased to be able to donate a modest amount each month to keep this organization active and productive.  With the donation automatically deducted each month, it's an easy way to be actively engaged.  I highly recommend becoming a Sustainer which feels good, saves time, and supports crucial work."  Mary Hoyer,   Union Coops Council and Coop Fund of New England Please join today as a USFWC Sustainer. Click the 'Join' button or visit www.usworker.coop/join/sustainers to learn more. With our deepest thanks for your belief in this work, and your willingness to back it financially, ~ The USFWC Board and Staff

Co-opoly's Second Printing Needs Your Support!

Dear cooperators and cooperative allies,

We, the Toolbox for Education and Social Action (TESA), a co-op based in Northampton, MA, are preparing to print the second edition of the hit board game Co-opoly: The Game of Cooperatives, and we need your help! 

Last year, we launched Co-opoly, and in ten months we have sold nearly 1,000 copies of our independently produced and marketed game to people all over the world. We are almost out of stock and are seeking contributions to help us print the second edition. In return, we’ll give you amazing rewards, benefits, and publicity. All contributions are tax deductible! 

Co-opoly has reached thousands of people around the world and has proven to be both a fun game and a powerful resource for building the cooperative community. Our game is also the first of its kind that we know of to be manufactured in accordance with sustainable and ethical business practices. While the game’s popularity thus far has been great, we need support to print the second edition. 

Our goal is to print 2,000 games, which will reach 12,000 to 20,000 people—from experienced cooperators to start-up co-op members, educators, families, organizers, and beyond. In return for your tax-deductible contributions, you can receive an array of benefits, such as being featured in the game; your logo on the box; free copies of Co-opoly; free advertising for your organization; and so much more! By helping us make this game available to more people and communities, you will also be spreading the word about your organization and mission. 

Visit our website to download the information kit and find out more details about our campaign to fund the second printing of Co-opoly. You can reach us by phone at 617-252-8799 or by email at contact@toolboxfored.org. We look forward to talking with you about Co-opoly!

We are thankful for cooperation

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we have a lot to be thankful for in regard to cooperation in the Northeast. Here are our top reasons for gratitude -- what are yours?

The Opportunity to Do Cooperative Development

We love our work, and we love working with all of you. We get calls every week from people seeking advice on every conceivable type of cooperative enterprise. You are our inspiration and our purpose.

Thanks to the hard work of the Cooperation Works! Urban Circle and of Rep. Chaka Fattah (PA-2nd District) and his staff, we may have the opportunity to do even more work with underserved communities throughout the Northeast. Rep. Fattah is looking for original cosponsors of the National Cooperative Development Act.

Please:

• Sign up to receive email from the "Campaign for Cooperation".
• Review their talking points and steps to advocate.
• Read the legislation and Rep. Fattah's "Dear Colleague" letter looking for cosponsors.
• Make an appointment with your representative over the holiday break and make a personal visit to tell them how great your co-op is and how much it would mean to have low/no-cost assistance, as well as loans and seed capital.
• This is the big one! Reps need to hear from you, their constituents. Let's get major bi-partisan support to pass a relatively low-cost, high-impact bill to create wealth and jobs!

~ Thank you! ~

Attention from the Public and Policymakers

No doubt about it, the profile of cooperatives is rising. Between the economy tanking, appreciation for local food and local businesses deepening, anger at unresponsive banks and corporations flourishing, and the U.N. declaring 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives, people everywhere are turning to cooperatives as a promising solution.

Certain areas are receiving specific attention: on September 23, CDI's Andy Danforth joined Paul Bradley, president of ROC USA and recently named Ashoka Fellow, to speak at a roundtable hosted by the VT Housing and Conservation Board on manufactured housing in the state of Vermont. Nonprofit leaders from the whole state learned about the possibility of converting manufactured home parks into independent, economically viable, democratically run, Resident Owned Communities -- like Bunker Hill in Windsor, VT, whose residents bought their park in June (see press). CDI is currently assisting two additional parks in VT that are working to become cooperatives by the end of the year. We are assisting about 20 manufactured housing groups in total throughout New England.

A Chance to Live Our Values in Daily Life

With the help of cooperatives, we can get all our needs met by principled economic actors.

• Search Why.coop (beta) to find a co-op near you where you can shop, eat, live, bank, or work in line with your principles
• Shop for holiday gifts from co-ops
• There are loads of ideas in the 2011 Cooperative Business Journal Holiday Gift Guide
• We are especially fond of all those art and artisan co-ops we have in the Northeast. See for example beautiful photos of remarkable work by Sally Chaffee of the Shelburne Arts Co-op
• And talk about co-op enterprises building a better world -- "Southern Alternatives Agricultural Cooperative (SAAC), located in rural southwest Georgia, is the only African-American-owned pecan-shelling facility in the United States — and it is run by women". They are selling yummy plain and candy pecans -- order by Dec 9!
• Share your strength -- consider donating to the United Cooperative Appeal or to Farm Credit East and CoBank's campaign to support farm families hit hard by Hurricane Irene
• Seed the future -- look for a co-op project to invest in on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, IOBY.org, or another crowd-funding service
• Our current favorite is the pitch from Dorchester Community Food Co-op for a winter farmer's market. They are now exactly half-way to their goal of $5,000. Pledge $10 or more and get a book of recipes for dishes that cost less than $5 to make!

~ With Gratitude ~

~ CDI ~

Donations to Farm Families Hurt by Irene and Lee, Kicked off by Farm Credit East and CoBank

Dear Northeast Agricultural Leaders and Policy Makers,

Farm Credit East in concert with United Way is coordinating an effort to help farm families hurt by Irene and Lee with personal donations (up to $500 to each family) to make their holiday season a little brighter. We would appreciate your help in getting the word out to affected farm families that suffered crop losses and damage as a result of the Irene and Lee disasters. This support is for any farm family with $10,000 of crop losses/damage in designated disaster counties in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. This is not limited to Farm Credit customers.

Farm Credit East and CoBank have both agreed to put $100,000 to this effort, so we have $200,000 to start. Farm Credit East employees are also making contributions and Yankee Farm Credit will be contributing (for the NY and NH counties that Yankee serves). United Way of the Greater Capital Region has also made a contribution. The actual amount of the grants to farm families will depend on the number of applications and the amount of total funds raised (up to $500 per farm family).

Other individuals and businesses are welcome/encouraged to make a contribution and will be recognized for their contributions in a final press release on this effort. The press release includes information on how to make a contribution to United Way for this effort – on-line or by check. This is a charitable contribution for tax purposes.

This assistance is not intended to cover business losses or make major repairs to homes and farm structures – it is intended to show “farm community concern” for the farm families hurt by Irene and Lee with the hope that their holiday can be a little nicer knowing that other folks care. In the attached release, Bill Lipinski says it better: “We just want folks to know we care and hope that they can be positive during the holidays.”

We do appreciate the on-going efforts of Northeast Congressional offices, State Departments of Agriculture, USDA, Governor Cuomo’s office and other NE state initiatives to support farmers at this time. These efforts are vital to help farms and rural communities to recover.

We are currently taking applications for this assistance – folks can apply by going on-line to www.farmcrediteast.com. The application includes more eligibility details. The application can also be found in Country Folks. Our deadline is November 26 in order that we can work with United Way to have checks received by farm families in mid-December. United Way of the Greater Capital District has been great to work with and is receiving funds and will write the checks.

Please forward this message to other organizations that may be interested.

Your efforts in getting this information out would be greatly appreciated!!!

Best regards,

Bob

Robert A. Smith

Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Knowledge Exchange

Farm Credit East

2668 State Route 7, Suite 21

Cobleskill, NY 12043

518.296.8188

CDF Establishes Hurricane Irene Cooperative Recovery Fund

Contact: Liz Bailey

703.302.8093

Lbailey@cdf.coop

CDF Establishes Hurricane Irene Cooperative Recovery Fund

$10,000 in Pledges Received From NCB & NCGA

Arlington, VA—Citing the need to help in the recovery of the cooperative community that was in the path of Hurricane Irene, the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) today announced the launch of the Hurricane Irene Cooperative Recovery Fund at www.cdf.coop.

The fund will direct tax-deductible contributions specifically to individuals and cooperative businesses along the East Coast and throughout New England who have experienced losses. The fund also will seek to assist organic farmers who are prime suppliers to food cooperatives.

CDF also announced that the first contributions to the fund are $5,000 from the National Consumer Cooperative Bank (NCB) and $5,000 from the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA). The fund will seek contributions from all sectors of the cooperative business community and from the general public.

“Regions throughout the continental United States have been hit by a devastating series of storms, tornadoes, floods and wildfires. In the latest major storm, Hurricane Irene, the victims again include co-ops and their members and we want to help. The devastation has been massive, with flooding and wind damage that has inundated both urban and rural areas from North Carolina to Vermont,” said CDF Executive Director, Liz Bailey. “The Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) applauds the resiliency of the people affected and the extraordinary work being done by government response teams and disaster relief agencies. We encourage your support for relief efforts that are providing invaluable support for victims, but we also ask you to consider a donation to this Fund which is focused on recovery of cooperatives and their members.”

“This is all about co-ops helping co-ops,” said Bailey. “Every time there has been a disaster, the cooperative community has responded with financial assistance and we know that they will be there again for victims of Hurricane Irene as well. We thank both NCB and NCGA for their early support for this fundraising initiative and their recognition that the cooperative community includes not only cooperative businesses and their members, but also their suppliers, such as the family farmers who the food cooperative sector relies on for its inventory of healthy foods.”

Collaboration with Other Co-op Organizations

CDF will partner on this fund drive with its colleagues in the cooperative community, both nationally and in the region to assure the maximum possible impact. CDF will take no administrative fee for funds raised to assure that 100% of the funds donated reach the people and organizations who need help. CDF’s primary points of contact in the affected area will be the Cooperative Fund of New England and the Neighboring Food Co-op Association who will assist in identifying the needs and dispersing funds to those with the greatest needs. Other partners who will assist in outreach and identification of needs include: Cooperative Development Institute, National Cooperative Grocers Association, the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives, and the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Online donations to the Hurricane Irene Cooperative Recovery Fund can be made atwww.cdf.coop. Checks can be made out to CDF-Irene Fund and sent to: CDF at 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22202. For more information, contact Ellen Quinn atequinn@cdf.coop or 703.383.8094.

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