What's a food co-op?

So, where does your co-op fit into that spectrum?

Every four weeks, we place an order which is delivered on a refrigerated truck. Members of the club come, unload the truck, split the delivery into individual orders, double check the division, pay for their orders, then take their food home.
Any member who can't work on a delivery and who has an order coming in, pays a surcharge. Any working member pays costs. Non working members surcharges underwrite the expenses of the group:bank charges, computer costs, telephone charges.

We have no salaries. This is strictly a volunteer group. The work is not distributed equally. I am responsible for taking orders, entering them into the computer, compiling them, sending in the compiled order, downloading the master invoice, breaking it into member invoices, taking the money for the orders, doing the banking, paying North Farm, maintaining the distribution site (my garage), and a host of other related tasks. But, it's easier doing this with the computer than it was doing it by hand.

I take no salary. There's frequently no extra money after meeting expenses. But, that's fine. I see the co-op as a ministry to my community. Many of the families in the co-op have food allergies and need to have food items which aren't commonly available in local stores (like Spelt flour, soycheeses, and rice pasta).

Anytime that the group finds itself with extra money, we spend it on food to donate to Spirit of Faith Church's soup kitchen. But, this doesn't happen often. Unfortunately.

That's the co-op in a nutshell