Dear Co-op Community,
I am super excited to see your smiles again and hug everyone! While the CDC and state have relaxed mask mandates, the co-op invites and encourages customers, vendors and staff to continue to use face masks when in the store out of consideration to those who are immunocompromised or are otherwise unable to get vaccinated. Thank you for helping us take care of our community!
Reopening all of the things will happen. The hot bar is officially open! The salad bar and café’ will follow and lastly the Community Room. We have to reorganize how we are running some our COVID induced programs first. Please be patient.
We are finally getting back on track with our goals for reducing waste. The first order of business led by our fabulous Grocery Manager, Chantae’, is getting rid of plastics in bulk. We were in a constant state of cringe last year as we had to package bulk items in plastic bags. It goes against our moral compass! Of course, some items have to be packaged in plastic for various reasons, but everything else can be put into paper bags. We strongly encourage you to bring in your reusable containers. Please be sure to get the tare weight before you fill up. We have more ideas and initiatives that will roll out as we continue down the road to reducing our carbon footprint.
Our staff enrichment retreat is being held on May 31st. We will be closed for the day. This is a big deal for us and we are thrilled to be working with Community Healer, Lyndon Rego from CoMetta on this very special day. Please send the staff notes of gratitude and love to my email gm@deeprootsmarket.com. I will be reading them during a gratitude ceremony that day. I appreciate any effort, as I am sure you all appreciate the efforts of your Co-op’s staff during one of the most difficult years in our history to operate a grocery store.
We are excited to get back into events and we have 3 in June that we will attend. On June 19th is the first Juneteenth Event at the East White Oak Community Center and it is also the date of the Annual Summer Solstice Event. We will be at both events with healthy foods, of course. June 26th is Vegfest at Center City Park. Come check out the veggie lifestyle and try new foods. Some of you may have noticed an event shared in our newsletter called Stomp the Stigma, which is a drive up concert fundraiser for Mental Health Greensboro. I serve on their Board of Directors because I believe that in combination, healthy foods, self and community care are required for good mental health. The event is June 12th and I encourage you to either attend or to donate to this wonderful agency that provides free mental health services to our community, which needs these services now more than ever before. Mental Health Greensboro - Advancing Mental Wellness Through Recovery (mhag.org) Check them out!
I sit in gratitude for this amazing Co-op staff, our resilient farmers and vendors and our loyal customers and owners. Without you all, we would not be here. Thank you for your continued support and loyalty. We are reaching goals over here and forming new ones to raise the community health bar. The more we all cooperate, the more our community thrives. So, thank you for showing up!
See you in the aisles,
Nicole Villano, GM