WedgeShare

WedgeShare is the Wedge Co-op's philanthropy that continues to positively influence our community. For the seventh year, we have an opportunity to share the prosperity of our Co-op and simultaneously promote aspects of our mission as a cooperative.

This year we will again give a portion of the Co-opÕs post-tax profits to non-partisan, non-sectarian organizations in the community that are committed to sustainability through activities related to Environmental Quality and Protection, Food and Agriculture, Cooperative-related Activities, and Health and Wellness.

Over the past months, we received and evaluated many applications. The six organizations on the ballot most closely match the program's criteria. Now it's your turn to decide which organizations should receive WedgeShare grants.

Please read the program descriptions carefully. The WedgeShare voting is done on the same ballot as the board election. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Stay tuned for voting results to be announced in the Wedge Newsletter.

The Youth Farm and Market Project has evolved from an upstart urban farming program into a multicultural community gardening enterprise which fights for environmental responsibility, youth empowerment, eradication of racism and poverty, and advancement of cultural expression. Building on a variety of traditions in working the land and growing and preparing food, our Youth Farmers build cross-cultural and intergenerational relationships, cultivate youth leadership, engage in micro-enterprise development, and organize neighbors to envision, realize, and activate neighborhood public space. It's an organic process of nurturing individualsÕ roots and sprouting new relationships!

In the coming year, we will direct our energy toward three key areas of our work with youth in Minneapolis and St. Paul: Urban Agriculture, Youth Organizing, and Cultural Nutrition.

The Twin Cities Green Guide's first guidebook and web site has become the "green" bible for Minnesotans, providing the information and resources needed to create sustainable changes in our communities.

The guide's team, interns, and volunteers are committed to producing a second edition. The guide will provide educational articles and resources on environmental, sustainable, and community issues for the Twin Cities and Minnesota. Along with current updates, the second edition will include national environmental projects, a new Duluth section and an expanded Green Pages.

As a non-profit organization, we strive to promote sustainable practices within our own communities. Due to the cost of the project, 95% of the labor for The Twin Cities Green Guide II will be donated through volunteers. Currently, The Twin Cities Green Guide is in need of funding to contribute to our project costs.

Farmers' legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG) is a St. Paul-based public interest law center providing free legal services to help preserve the family farm system of agriculture. Founded in 1986, FLAG's work includes support for organic farmers and certifiers who are trying to protect the integrity of the organic label. We are seeking support from Wedge members so that we can take the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to federal court for its failure to properly implement the National Organic Program.

The case arose when an organic certifier declined to certify a farmer whose chickens were denied access to the outdoors. (The chickens were also routinely debeaked.) USDA overruled the certifier, insisting that eggs from the confined chickens were organic and that the certifier has no right of appeal. FLAG needs your help to establish the right of organic certifiers to do their job without undue interference from the USDA.

American Indian Services, Inc. (AIS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a culturally specific halfway house program to Twin Cities Native Americans recovering from chemical dependency. AIS provides clients the support and time needed to rejoin society; this helps them regain dignity and an understanding of their heritage, both of which they need to live chemical-free lives in this multicultural community.

We work to strengthen the chemical, behavioral, and nutritional health of our clients, encouraging them to share their knowledge with the community.

With a grant from the Wedge, we will start a high-nutrition, fresh-food program for our clients, most of whom have diabetes. This program will buttress our efforts by providing a nutritional basis for recovery, as well as very necessary maintenance of diabetes. We are currently working with the International Diabetes Center and Park Nicollet on this program and would deeply value support from the Wedge community.

Great River Greening's mission is to restore valuable and endangered natural areas and open spaces in the Twin Cities metropolitan area by engaging communities and volunteers. We help people experience the huge scope of stewardship work, believing that they will be more sensitive as voters to policy, budget, and resource questions, including the need for management and monitoring. Through actual results and personal experience, our work will affect thousands of future voters, landowners, and professionals.

We seek funds to improve and diversify our volunteer program to serve the growing needs of our organization and community. We are currently expanding the geographic scope of our services and reinforcing the cumulative impact of our work and that of our partners. Volunteers are a vital part of Greening's work, and its volunteer program involves citizens in ecological restoration on a scale that no other Twin Cities organization can match.

As the newest member of the Minnesota Co-op community, Just Food is seeking your support to help ensure the success of our store. The people of Northfield have worked hard to make this store a reality. We now have over 600 members and member loan commitments of $300,000 in a town with a population of only 17,000. Community support has been broad and generous, but like most start-up businesses, there is always a need for more.

A WedgeShare grant would reduce our dependence on high-interest lines of credit and provide valuable cash flow support. The members of Just Food and the Wedge, as well as the general public, will see the power and strength of co-ops helping co-ops. Just Food is looking forward to providing great food and service to our community and becoming an active member of the greater co-op community. Thank you for your vote.