Grocer 4 Good kicks off online fundraising campaign

NEWS RELEASE
GROCER 4 GOOD ABILITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
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On behalf of the Board of Directors of Grocer 4 Good Ability Development Program we want to share our online Giving Campaign that is possible due to our recent charitable status granted by the Charities Directorate.

For many organizations, fundraising has been a challenge this past year, and we want to recognize our supporters who donated much needed financial contributions, wage subsidies and furniture and fixtures for us to make G4G a reality in early 2020.

They include: District Social Services Administrative Board, HealthCare Solutions (Marty Wilding), SSM PUC Services, Algoma Autism Foundation and Jesse, Jamie and Dan Boston, Program Read, Harvest Algoma, Ergo Office Plus (Paul Scornaienchi and team), SSM Community Career Centre, Yes You Can Employment, Community Development Corporation and ODSP.

Our plan moving into 2021 was to hold small 'Supper Clubs' to both raise funds to assist with ongoing operations, and also give our staff more learning opportunities. We held our inaugural 'Supper Club' within APH guidelines at Big Lake Cabin and greatly appreciate those that attended and the chance to give three of our staff a new work experience. This is not possible to plan in our current environment, so rather than hold a virtual event, we are challenging our community to reach our goal of 25 monthly individual donors through our online campaign by the end of April!

All gifts are meaningful, and options - such as monthly installments, are available.

What does your donation do?

• Support paid employment opportunities for our staff, over 90 percent identify as having a disability and for many working at G4G has been their first paid job. (since our opening we have employed over 10 individuals, and maintain a staff of 8 part-time employees) - 2 of our original 10 have moved onto other employment!
• Maintain low mark-up on products (in some cases we sell at a loss - such as our 4 litre bags of milk) to assist our customers, many of whom are on limited incomes.
• Provide a sense of purpose and pride in having a rewarding opportunity - not just for work experience, but interpersonal development and life skills (we have seen this from staff learning to clean our staff washrooms - and using those skills at home & learning to look for past due dates on perishables)
• Instill the values that we all have something to contribute to our community in a meaningful and rewarding way.
• Maintain a consistent Program Manager who mentors and supports all of our staff in their training and development - as well as run the day to day operations
• Support students (both college and high school) who come to us to complete their Co-Op Education credits (most recent partnership with Sault College and their Community Integration Through Co-operative Education C.I.C.E. program)

Who can shop at G4G?

• Everyone! We are a smaller grocery retailer and offer a variety of products at a low mark-up.

Do you have discount days?

• We have Senior discounts on Thursdays and Student discounts on Fridays (10% off storewide)

What is a social enterprise?

• We operate with the primary purpose of employing people facing various barriers to paid employment and skill building, while we supply essential goods and services at a low mark-up to service an area that has limited access to fresh produce everyday grocery needs.

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