Buying Club Fund-Raiser to Begin in March

As many of you already know, we are planning on leasing the space previously occupied by Such A Deal, the flea market that used to be in West Park Center. The owners of the space have requested a $1,500 deposit, to be paid by March 1, 2008. That deposit will secure the space for us until May 1, 2008, at which time we would move forward and obtain our long-term lease. As we have been for the past few weeks, we are continuing to raise funds for all aspects of opening Local Roots Co-op.

Today, we need your help in a different way. We are planning on using the space in a unique and different way. What we propose is that we set up a temporary "buying club" operation in the West Park space. Orders would be taken once per week. We would receive delivery of all types of natural foods, and other merchandise, from United Natural Foods in Denver. We would use the space as a distribution area and sell everything to you at regular retail pricing. This would be the food and other items that you are already buying, from wherever you buy it now.

The operation would be staffed and run by volunteers (All of Us!), and all profit would be used to further our fund-raising goals. Note: as this is a fund-raising activity, the discount that members would expect to receive once we open will not yet go into effect. Also, although buying from United Natural Foods is convenient for the purpose of this fund-raiser, it does not in many ways fulfill the goals of Local Roots Co-op. There is no direct relationship with the food producer, and the producers who utilize this large distributor may not satisfy our criteria for giving preference to local producers. This fund-raiser is not meant to reflect or define the character of the future Local Roots Co-op.

Thanks very much for your continued interest and support. We are working hard to bring your local, Estes Park co-op to you as soon as possible!

Register Your Support

Many people have spoken or written to us saying how excited they are about having Local Roots Co-op in our community. While we greatly appreciate these sentiments, we now need people to make tangible their support, in order to carry forward this community endeavor. We need the people of our community to Register their support. There are many ways to make manifest that support.

• Shares are available for $250 each
• Working Memberships can be bought for $20 NOW, and will remain in effect until a year after we open our doors.
• Non- Working Memberships can also be bought for $70 NOW, and remain in effect until a year after we open our doors.
• Finally, whatever you have: $5, $20, $50 can be put into a Community Support Loan.

Selecting any of these options, no matter how small, will make manifest your support of your Co-op, and help transform it from a dream into a reality. Real support means a real Co-op: this May. Future support means a Co-op that will come at some future time. What kind of Town do we want? It is in our hands to create that Town now.

Quick Community Action Needed

Janice Mason and has done us a great service by printing a long and detailed article in the Community section of this Friday’s Trail Gazette (Feb 1, 2008). It has already begun to reach many who, like ourselves, have long dreamed of having a storefront Co-op in our community. We appreciate also that she mentioned that quick community action is needed. Jim and LeeAnn Wehr have proposed a very generous lease for the space at West Park Center, which they own. The current retail rent for the space is $2500/month. They have proposed to start us out at $1500/month. Again, this is a very generous arrangement. They cannot, however, wait indefinitely for us to raise the funds necessary for us to cover our start-up costs. They have therefore asked for a $1500 non-refundable deposit by March 1st in order to hold the space open for us. Then, after placing the utilities in the name of Local Roots Co-op, we will gain access to the space to begin getting it ready. The lease is then scheduled to go into effect by May 1st.

Because the funds from Memberships and Shares are not to be used until we have met our start-up costs, a third method of funding is required in order to be able to put down this deposit. This third method is called a Community Support Loan. A Community Support Loan is a type of loan that is often employed by Co-ops. The loan is to be paid back to the dollar with no interest. Until the loan is repaid, the lender receives a return on investment in the form of an enhanced discount as follows:

• Non-Member: 10% at the Co-op / 5% at Cooperative Partners
• Non-Working Member: 15% at the Co-op / 10% at Cooperative Partners
• Working Members: 30% at the Co-op / 20% at Cooperative Partners

Loans received before the Co-op is opened will have an extension on the discount period. These loans may be utilized to fulfill immediate needs.

The timeline has begun. We need to raise the funds for the deposit, as well as the Memberships and Shares required for us to be able to even think of opening in May. This is a dream that Estes Park has long been ready for. Let us take the steps to make this dream a reality.