Hello co-op friends. This is your regular update letting you
know what is happening with our co-op. This will be sent out about
once a week and will always include our current member total. We have
gained 23 new members in the last 2 weeks bringing our current total
to 138 founding members!!

We have set a goal of having 300 members by May 1. Please help
spread the word and tell all your friends to join. It is now possible
to join online via pay pal. I encourage those who are reading this and
are not yet members to visit our website and join. Having a strong
membership base is essential to our success.

Join us for our next potluck dinner and informational meeting on
Monday March 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church
at 1325 Governor Nicholls in the Treme. We encourage our founding
members to come and help welcome new people to our co-op. These
dinners continue to get bigger every month as our co-op grows. Anyone
and everyone is welcome to attend!! Bring a dish or just bring yourself.

On Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 17 of our members
attended a weekend long business planning session with our consultant,
Bill Gessner. This proved to be an invaluable experience. We now have
systems in place and greater organization as we take the steps to open
our store. Bill also worked with us on our sources and uses budget.
Bill Gessner has decades worth of co-op experience and has worked with
many co-ops around the country to successfully open and succeed.

The attendees of this business planning session have formed the
base of a group we have named the Action Team. We have identified the
tasks necessary to complete in this stage of our development and the
Action Team is further divided into 5 committees. The Action Team will
meet again on Wednesday, March 26 from 7-9 p.m. at 623 North Rendon.
If you are interested in attending please respond to this e-mail.

I hope to see you at a future meeting or potluck!

John Calhoun
Vice-President
New Orleans Food Co-op
john@nolafoodcoop.org
(504)324-6849