Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.coop>]

Hi Wheatsville friends!

I hope that things are going well for you!

In this e-mail:
Laptop Lunches
Back to school
Coffee with the Board
Early closing for a staff appreciation Party
Midwest Farmer flood relief

Laptop Lunchbox!
Wheatsville is the only place in town (and maybe Texas!) where you will find the awesome Laptop Lunchboxes. These bento box style lunchboxes are EXTREMELY popular and your kid may not be allowed in school wohtout them! (Just kidding!) We currently carries only the laptop lunch system and the laptop lunch bento box.
All other accessories can be ordered directly from www.laptoplunches.com
Specific colors are subject to availability. You are welcome to call us anytime to see what's in stock. Or, you can e-mail healthteam AT wheatsville.coop

Not sure what to put in your Laptop Lunchbox? The Book Vegan Lunchbox could help. This is a great book (that we sell at Wheatsville) and you don't even need the lunchbox to enjoy them!
We enjoyed the Calzones a lot the other night!

Our deli has a bunch of delicious Bumble Babies for you to enjoy! Bumble Babies are yummy treats with just the right amount of sweet! THey go great in lunchboxes, too!

Look for our Back to School signs for great ideas for on the go snacks and lunch!

Coffee with the board!
This Saturday from 10-Noon under the awning! Enjoy some coffee and other treats with some of your favorite board members! Talk about the co-op, running for the board, the expansion, coffee or the transformation of society!

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!
We are going to be closing early on Thursday September 6th (the deli at 8:30 and the store at 9pm) so that we can have a Staff Appreciation Party at the Clay Pit. Get your shopping done early so all of our staff can come to the hootenany! Thanks for your support and we appreciate your putting up with the store being closed! We hate to close, but our staff sure does deserve the party!

SOW THE SEEDS: FLOOD RELIEF

Several of the farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin have been hit very hard by the recent flooding. For a brief rundown of the farms and farmers enduring some painful times, read here:

http://eatlocalatthewedge.blogspot.com/2007/08/flood-report-from-local-farms.html

http://wcco.com/local/local_story_233191704.html

To show our solidarity with these farmers, Outpost Natural Foods, Eastside Co-op, the Wedge, and Just Foods Co-op are partnering with the Sow the Seeds Fund to gather donations for flood relief. Sow the Seeds Fund is a non-profit started by the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy. Its original mission was to purchase farmland and preserve it from development. The recent flooding, however, re-arranged that mission in favor of providing Flood Relief to sustainable and organic farmers serving the grocery co-op community.

There are a number of ways you can take part in raising money for Sow the Seeds Fund:

Please go to the Sow the Seeds Fund website where you can make donations easily online.

www.sowtheseedsfund.org
[it's in the process of being updated to reflect the Flood Relief campaign]

Wheatsville will MATCH your donation if you e-mail me gm AT wheatsville.coop and tell me how much you donated!


Just to put in perspective how much money these farmers have lost: According to WCCO, Jack Hedin of Featherstone Farms has already written off $200,000 worth of produce and Richard de Wilde of Harmony Valley mentioned a similar number. I doubt we can cover all that for 5 or 6 farms, but we can lessen the sting by showing these partners of ours that we, their customers and shoppers and co-op friends, feel this loss very deeply and we want to share the load.

We tend to focus on the close at hand help, but sometimes reaching a little further is the right thing to do! Can you help out? www.sowtheseedsfund.org

Thanks to several Wheatsville e-mail list folks for generously donating to this cause!

Have a great week!

Dan Gillotte
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy!