By Barbara Clark, Board President
On Friday, November 2 at 6 p.m., co-op owners are invited to our Annual Co-op Meeting to be held at Cider Gallery. Many of you may remember that last year we exceeded capacity at the Carnegie Building. With a growing owner base we searched for a location with more capacity. We are excited to share and celebrate our growing ownership and our many positive accomplishments this year by our co-operatively owned grocery store.
This year we celebrate the completion of our solar installation. The Merc Co+op is home to Lawrence’s largest solar array, generating 29% of our total energy usage. As I write this, we have just received a unanimous vote from the KCK City Commission to begin design and construction of our second store. We’ll be sharing much information on this exciting opportunity to bring our co-op grocery store to a new community that is anxiously awaiting access to healthy food, food education and building community around food equity.
We will also have information to share about the new work being done by Community Mercantile Education Foundation within our Lawrence community as well as a review of how the Change Program with your generous support has benefitted many local not-for-profits doing important work within our community.
One of the most important undertakings this year and one that will continue into the future is our work on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This effort is throughout all of The Merc Co+op: employees, vendors, and board representation.
And, finally we will be announcing the results of our board elections. Voting ends October 21, so don’t forget to cast your vote in store or online.
So, mark your calendars for November 2 and get your tickets to join us for an exciting Annual Co-op Meeting. It truly is a time for celebration.