With every purchase at Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op, shoppers are given two chances to give back to non-profits in the Roanoke Valley. Individually, these donations are just pennies, rarely more than $1 each, but collectively the donations have added up to over $100,000.
When you bring your own bag to the registers at the co-op, the co-op makes a $.05 donation to one of four featured charities. The program called Chip In!, which began in October 2010, has not only contributed over $30,000 to local organization but also has saved over half a million bags from entering the waste stream.
In 2016, the co-op’s other charitable giving program, Give Up!, which allows shoppers to “round up” their purchases or give their change to a featured charity each month, raised $24,683 for 12 local charities. Since its inception in October 2013, Give Up! has amassed over $70,000 thanks to the generosity of so many co-op shoppers.
“Our community is everything,” said co-op general manager, Bruce Phlegar. “Not only do our shoppers support the co-op, but they have also supported these programs, Chip In! & Give Up!, which have given so much back to our community.”
The 2017 Give Up! Recipients are: Science Museum of Western VA, Happy Healthy Cooks, Roanoke SPCA, Sexual Assault Response and Awareness (SARA), Girls Rock Roanoke, Child Health Investment Partnership of Roanoke (CHIP), Blue Ridge Autism Achievement Center, Alliance for Unity, Co-op Community Fund, Franklin County Humane Society, Feeding America Southwest Virginia, and Southern Virginia Child Advocacy.
To learn more about Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op and their community contributions, visit www.roanokenaturalfoods.coop/giving-back
