Create Positive Change
Each time you shop at the co-op, you have a chance to directly support local community partners by donating your 10-cent reusable bag credits and rounding up your purchases to the nearest dollar. It may only be a few cents or spare change, but your generosity makes a huge impact — to the tune of over $10,000 each month for our Positive Change recipients!
Friends of the Mississippi River
May’s Positive Change recipient is Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR), a nonprofit that serves as the voice protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities.
Nature isn’t canceled. During this challenging time of COVID-19, we can turn to outdoor spaces for both physical and mental well-being. The Twin Cities is home to many incredible outdoor spaces including lakes, trails, parks, and perhaps most impressive, the Mississippi River.
Over the years, FMR has built a strong reputation for taking an inclusive, place-based, strategic approach to enhancing the ecological health of the Mississippi River and its watershed as well as protecting the many assets that the river brings to our region.
FMR focuses on water quality and watershed health, land protection and restoration, community education and engagement, and river corridor protection. Their multi-faceted, holistic approach dramatically impacts how local Twin Cities residents and visitors interact with and protect the river. Each year, they actively engage, educate, and inspire citizens through more than 100 volunteer and educational activities in order to raise water quality awareness and strengthen environmental stewardship of the watershed’s aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Funds donated at the registers in May will support efforts to protect and improve the river’s water quality. These efforts include environmental education, clean water advocacy, and invasive species removal. Due to COVID-19, the volunteer events that FMR relies on for spring planting, trash clean-up, and invasive species removal have all been cancelled. The result is an increased need for funding to cover the additional staff time allocated towards this important work.