Rally for Change

Anytime you check-out at City Market, you can choose to "round up" your total to the nearest dollar. Each month, that spare change is donated to three great non-profits that align with the Co-op's mission. 

Rally for Change50% Partner (every month):

Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf

www.feedingchittenden.org

October's 40% Partner:

Hunger Free Vermont

Hunger Free Vermont is a statewide organization working to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all Vermonters. Since 1993, Hunger Free Vermont’s outreach, education, technical assistance, and legislative initiatives have worked to ensure there are healthful meals wherever children are throughout their days; that adults and seniors have the resources to feed themselves and their families in the home; and that all communities have access to nutrition education. The organization believes this approach to ending hunger and malnutrition will lessen dependence on the charitable food system, provide regular access to food through dignified means and traditional channels, and create a socially sustainable model where access to nutritious food is built in to the fabric of all communities. 

Some of Hunger Free Vermont’s notable efforts have drastically increased access to school meal programs while simultaneously improving their meal quality, including bringing more local foods into cafeterias. Now 56 schools in Vermont offer Universal Free School Meals to all students in their schools and this brings in more reimbursements to the meal programs so they can afford more fresh, local foods. This universal model also eliminates stigma in the cafeteria and makes it a more welcoming place for all students to equally share a meal while learning about healthy eating. In addition to getting more schools to offer meals in this model, Hunger Free Vermont is also pushing to help schools move breakfast after the bell. When breakfast is served after the start of the school day, it makes it dramatically easier for students to participate in breakfast, improving their health and learning. These are some examples of the organization’s work in schools—although they work to end hunger across the age spectrum and also offer The Learning Kitchen cooking and nutrition education classes. 

https://www.hungerfreevt.org/

Octobers's 10% Partner:

Vermont PBS

Vermont PBS has been serving the entire state of Vermont since 1967 with programming that educates, informs, and inspires our community.  When they started back in 1967 as Vermont ETV, they were one educational television channel.  A lot has changed since then – today they serve the community with four full-time stations (Vermont PBS, Vermont PBS Plus, Vermont PBS Create and Vermont PBS World), plus a robust offering of content online.  They’re available over the air, on US and Canada-based cable providers, via Roku, Apple TV and other devices, and via the PBS app.

Vermont PBS provides a wide range of content that enriches the lives of Vermonters and inspires individuals to be life-long learners.  Some key areas of focus include:

Ready to learn for pre-K children: Vermont PBS gives families a safe and educational environment for our children to learn about everything from STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to social interaction, and everything in between; 

Arts and Culture: Vermont PBS brings world-class performances from around the corner and around the world.  They’ve recently added a local filmmaker component called Made Here;

Science and Nature: For people interested in animal relationships, physics, ecosystems, and other aspects of our globe and our universe, Vermont PBS covers a diverse range of science and nature topics;

World-class drama: Vermont PBS brings you smart, funny, complex dramas like Poldark, Grantchester, and Indian Summers.  Drama on Vermont PBS enthralled audiences with the works of the finest writers interpreted by the world’s foremost actors.

vermontpbs.org

 

About Rally for Change

In October 2014, City Market updated its program for collecting donations at the register! Previously, we selected a different non-profit each month and donated 5 cents for each bag our customers reused (our "Change for Local Non-Profits" program). Every register also included tear off coupons so customers could donate to the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf. In addition, each year in February we sold $1 Hearts for the Intervale Center and in September $1 Lunch Trays for Hunger Free Vermont, with all donations going to each respective organization. We've consolidated all of these programs into our new "Rally for Change" program which allows customers to "round up" their order at each register, each time they check-out at the Co-op.

In the name of education, opportunity, and streamlining how we do things here at the Co-op, we created a Rally for Change program! This program allows customers to “round up” their payment at the register (e.g., a $25.42 checkout could be rounded up to $26 for a $0.58 donation). The Co-op will then donate this “round up” change to a variety of local non-profits each month (so, not just one!) that are doing amazing work in our community. Want to round up to the nearest five or ten dollars? You can do that too! Each month, we’ll share who will be receiving the donations (in our newsletter, with store signage and through staff education).

With more than 4,000 transactions each day through our registers, we all have the opportunity to share what we think of as “small change” to rally for bigger community-wide change. This new Rally program will take the place of the “tear off” coupons we have at the registers and will also take the place of our Change for Local Non-Profits (or bag refunds) program.

Not to worry, a large percentage of each month’s donation will go to the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf and we anticipate that this program will actually increase their donations. Through this new program, we will also continue to offer donations to local non-profits that are on the waiting list for our previous "Change for Local Non-Profits" bag refund program (and any new ones that we add to the list!). Here’s how the donation percentages will work out each month:

  • 50% to the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, every month

  • 40% to an organization that aligns with the Co-op’s Global Ends

  • 10% to a local non-profit that may not directly align so closely with our Global Ends, but still works to make our community a better place (much like the Change for Local Non-Profits Program)

This new program gives our cashiers and staff an opportunity to engage with our customers and together we’ll both support and learn more about the organizations that make our community a better place to live. We’re excited to give it a try and are interested to hear what you think!

Past Recipients

Do you run a local non-profit that aligns with our Global Ends?

Your organization can apply to become a Rally for Change 10% Partner. We are currently filling slots 2 years out (it's a popular program and our community has many amazing non-profits!). Visit our donations page to learn how to apply.