CLEARLAKE– Lake County Community Co-Op has begun accepting paid memberships of $24 a year.
At its Saturday, March 8, meeting, treasurer Patrick Kenna accepted checks from the first official co-op members. “Dues will be $24 a year or $2 a month,” said buying club committee member William Thady. “Memberships will start April 1 but we may place our first order at the end of March.”
Thady added that the co-op is looking into a wholesale supplier such as Veritable Vegetables or United Food. “Everything that we buy will be organic,” he added. “Foods that are labeled ?natural” will have been created with organic principles but without certification.”
Buying club orders will be placed online and must be prepaid. The group is working on being able to accept payments via credit card.
A survey has been posted at the co-op”s Wiki site, http://lakecountycommunityco-op.wikispaces.com/. A link in a navigation menu on the left-hand side of the page invites you to “Take the Survey!” A link also appears directly below the picture on the Wiki site home page.
If you do not have your own computer, you can use computers at the Lake County Library to access the Internet and Wiki site. You can also look for paper copies of the survey at participating local businesses, which are being asked to make survey copies from an original that will be provided.
Survey questions address shopping and spending habits as well as preferences and priorities when respondents shop for food. The survey also asks where respondents want to see the co-op located.
“This will tell us where people live, where they would like to see the co-op and what they are willing to spend,” said organizer JoAnn Sacatto.
The meeting also included updates regarding a local community garden, bylaws and policies. Sacatto reported that Herb Gura, a legal document assistant, will donate his time to help with filing for non-profit status.
For more information about the Lake County Community Co-op, visit http://lakecountycommunityco-op.wikispaces.com/. Memberships payable to LCCCo-Op in the amount of $24 can be sent to PO Box 718, Clearlake, CA 95422.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com.
