Silverton Food Co-op has hit the ground running in 2021, as there is no time to delay discussions and decisions essential to our Co-op’s future. And the Co-op needs all owner participation in these important next steps! Please continue reading for results from our 2020 capital campaign and details for the upcoming owner meeting on January 21st.

The Silverton Food Co-op Board of Directors has carefully evaluated the results from the 2020 capital campaign to raise the funds needed to open our community-owned grocery store. During the campaign, volunteers made hundreds of phone calls, texts, and emails, and reached 40% of the over 600 owners eligible to make a loan with the Co-op. 58 owners have invested a total of $195,000 in owner loans, and an additional 34 owners made gifts totaling $7,340. We are deeply grateful to the owners who participated in the campaign, either by volunteering, investing, or donating - thank you!

While the funds raised in 2020 are significant, we have learned that our prospects are poor to secure $800,000 from our owners in 2021, in accordance with our $1.6 million business plan to open the store. Following this evaluation, the Silverton Food Co-op Board of Directors met with capital campaign owner-investors last week. During that meeting, investors reviewed the results of the capital campaign, discussed current options available to the Co-op, and provided feedback for the next steps. Now, we invite all Silverton Food Co-op to join in on this important discussion. 

The board is considering three options: (1) resume the capital campaign this spring, (2) return investments to date and explore other business plans, or (3) close up the business. Either of the first two options will require significant owner participation. Also, the board is open to any other proposals presented by the owners. Should the Co-op collectively decide on the second option, to postpone pursuing the finances needed to open the store, the Co-op would accordingly return funds to all owners who have invested and, upon request, owners who donated during the Fall 2020 Capital Campaign.
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Please participate in the discussion at our upcoming virtual owner meeting on January 21, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. Bring your questions and ideas for what types of projects you’d like the Co-op to pursue, and engage in an open discussion with your fellow owners. We look forward to your participation in this survey and at the upcoming owner meeting. Thank you!

​We want to express our sincerest thanks to all our owners who have participated in the fall capital campaign, and especially wish to thank all our volunteers who made the campaign possible. Silverton Food Co-op volunteers made hundreds of phone calls, texts and emails and reached 40% of our eligible owners. We completed loan agreements with 57 lenders and deposited $188,000 in the escrow account. An additional 34 owners made gifts totaling $7,340. 

The Board of Directors has carefully evaluated this fall's effort to contact the over 600 Co-op owners who are eligible to make a loan. We have learned from this evaluation that we have poor prospects in 2021 to secure $800,000 from our owners, in accordance with our $1.6 million business plan to open the store.

A few years ago, the idea of a community-owned grocery store in Silverton was birthed around a dining room table. Around this table were foodies, farmers, and engaged citizens with a shared dream of creating a place where community members could access healthy, local food every day of the week. To make that dream possible, we have been following the development model for startup food co-ops created by Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) since 2017. In the last 10 years many communities have successfully used the FCI model to open a food co-op store. While the Board believes this development model is sound and may still work for Silverton in the future, it is unlikely to be a feasible model in the near term.

In January, with the input of investors and owners like you, including our business-owners, we will make some important decisions, including whether to continue fundraising during the remainder of the offering period, which ends on September 30, 2021, or terminate the offering before its expiration date. We’ll also ask for your ideas as to whether the Co-op should explore alternatives to the FCI model and other projects and activities that will further our mission to support local farmers and producers and bring fresh, real food to our members year round. Please mark your calendars for the following important dates:

January 7, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. - Virtual discussion with
Silverton Food Co-op investors
January 21, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. - Virtual discussion with
all Silverton Food Co-op owners 

We look forward to hearing from you and we welcome your participation in deciding the future of our Silverton Food Co-op. Please watch your inbox for forthcoming invitations to these January meetings!

This has not been an easy year for our community. As one owner-investor put it, “2020 has been a real bear,” but that hasn’t stopped us from moving forward. Our Co-op is as strong and resilient as its owners, and together we launched a capital campaign to raise the funds needed to open our store. In this moment, we know we have to do more than just keep the dream alive, it’s time to make it a reality!

Yesterday marked the end of our 2020 Capital Campaign. Our volunteers finished their last calls and we tallied our numbers. Collectively, we have raised over $200,000 in pledged loans and gifts! Our owners have pledged $192,000 in loans and $8,590 in gifts. And, as of today, we have received $146,000 in loans and $7,140 in gifts. Over the last six weeks, there has been overwhelming commitment and generosity from owners who have volunteered their time to this campaign. From making calls and sending emails, to writing songs and recording videos, it’s never been clearer what a talented and powerful ownership Silverton Food Co-op has. Thanks to our volunteers’ efforts and the financial investments and donations received from our owners, we have reached a new milestone. We are beyond grateful to the owners who have stepped up to invest and donate to the Co-op - thank you!

And yet, there is still a long way to go. We’ve reached 24% of our goal of raising the $850,000 in loans and gifts needed to open our store. And we’re just $8,000 short of the minimum owner loan amount required, $200,000.  It is not too late to make your contribution to the Co-op! You can become an owner, make your owner loan or gift a contribution to the Co-op.  You can also ask a friend to become an owner or give the gift of ownership for the holidays. Your support is critical to the success of our Co-op!

In the coming weeks, the Board of Directors will be meeting and consulting with owners to evaluate our progress and identify potential next steps for the Co-op. As always, we will be sure to communicate and share openly with our entire membership, and we welcome your questions, suggestions, and ideas for moving forward!

In the meantime, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating our progress and giving thanks. We are so grateful to our owners who have invested, made a donation, and volunteered their time to help in this campaign! 

Thank you,

Kelly Hilton, Cayla Catino, Marc van Anda, Flora Guiterrez, Becky Gilliam, Micole Olivas-Leyva

The moment we've all been waiting for: Silverton Food Co-op has launched the Capital Campaign! Your Board of Directors has been working long hours in preparation for this campaign - the campaign that will help raise the funds needed to open our store! The Board also has 100% participation in the Capital Campaign, through investments, contributions & donations of time. And while we will be working diligently over the coming weeks to ensure a strong and effective campaign, we're also finding time to celebrate this milestone. So, here's to all of us, our entire Co-op community, as we get closer to opening the store of our dreams! Cheers!

Don't forget to visit our Capital Campaign website to get all the details and find a way to get involved today! 

The past several days our community has come together in the face of deadly fire and smoke. We've braced ourselves and held each other tight through an event more threatening and forceful than most of us have ever seen. Some of you may still be evacuated, some have returned home, and some may have never left. Wherever you are reading this, we hope you are safe, rested and healthy. 

​We know you've been protecting your families, animals and land, volunteering your time and energy, donating your skills and resources, and helping your friends and neighbors through this unforeseen challenge. Our community has come together, yet again, in a truly inspiring way --  because that's who we are!

Silverton Food Co-op is as strong and resilient as its owners.  Together we will open a community-owned grocery store that supports a healthier and more stable climate, with sustainably and locally-grown food. Our Co-op will show up for those more deeply impacted by social, climate and economical injustices, including our communities of color and low-income neighbors. Our Co-op will always support our local farmers, who are the backbone of our local food economy and providers of nourishment. Our Co-op will keep giving back to our community and responding to the most pressing needs and interests at heart.
We are deeply grateful to our first responders, firefighters and volunteers for working tirelessly to protect our precious community. Keep checking on your friends and neighbors. The SFC Board is thinking of you, and sending love and support to you all!
Kelly Hilton, Cayla Catino, Marc van Anda, Flora Guiterrez, Becky Gilliam, Micole Olivas-Leyva

The Silverton Food Co-op stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and demands for racial justice. Several of our SFC Board members attended the youth-led peaceful memorial demonstration in Silverton last month, and we are committed to listening and putting in the work.
We will continue to find ways to support the community in moving forward in a more just, inclusive, equitable and loving way.

Black Lives Matter!

​Hello Everyone and Happy Spring!

I love Spring!  I love the flowers, the bees, the new growth on plants, and most of all, the birds singing early in the morning.  If we have to stay home at least it’s during such a beautiful season.  Each beautiful day brings us closer to reopening our communities. 

Speaking of normal, I sometimes wonder how this worldwide event will change our ‘normal’?  What impact will this have on our local communities, businesses, farmers, and residents and how long will it take to financially recover?  These are the questions I ask myself while sitting in my backyard, reveling at all the yard work I have accomplished so early in the season.  My prayer is that this has given us a chance to stop, reassess, rethink the way we do things, and open back up with more creative and effective opportunities to work and play.

We have discovered the power of virtual connections, yet the isolation has also made it clear that we need human connection.  Just talking with someone from sidewalk to porch is exhilarating these days.  I like technology and am grateful for the IT folks that have worked diligently to keep our services working with the immediate increased stress on bandwidth.  I am grateful for the downtime and virtual connections but yearn for the ‘good ole days’ of hugging my friends again.

What do you see when you look to the future?  I see a food co-op store open to everyone. I see the financial and social impact that it will have on our local economy. From having consistent, living wages for our employees to continuous support of our local farmers.  I see an array of local, healthy food that feeds our children and residents. I see it supporting local businesses and programs.  I see it educating and giving people a place that is supportive and purposeful.  I see fun and informative events that entire families can participate in. Our co-op will do all of that and more, but it takes all of us to make it happen.  Anywhere from serving on the board or a committee, to donating and investing money to the opening of our store.  

Our Capital Campaign is up and running! This is the campaign that raises money to open our store. You will be hearing more about it in the upcoming months as we prepare to launch a formal campaign. Please see our website for the information about making your investment now!   

We are all in this together and together we can open a great store!  

Kelly Hilton
Silverton Food Co-op President

​We asked, you answered, we're listening!  Earlier this spring we sent out a survey to all owners, asking for your feedback on Silverton Food Co-op owner engagement, cooperative principles and top priorities in the community. Thank you to the 145 owners who responded, your input is greatly appreciated!

We've compiled the results from the owner survey and wanted to share the highlights with our SFC community. Next month, we'll share more about how we're addressing each area of feedback we received. And if you asked a specific question in your survey response, you should be hearing from our Board of Directors this week. Check out the owner survey highlights!