New Orleans Food Cooperative Receives

$25K Development Grant from Entergy

Food Co-op Store to Help Revitalize St. Claude Avenue

New Orleans, La. – The New Orleans Food Cooperative (NOFC) Board of Directors received a grant check for $25,000 Wednesday from Entergy New Orleans to assist with preliminary planning in establishing New Orleans’ only cooperative food store

Rod West, president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, presented the check to Anne Sobol, NOFC treasurer, at a ceremony held at the co-op’s future site — the old Universal Furniture Building at St. Claude and St. Roch Avenues in District 7.

The co-op store will provide healthy, affordable foods in the St. Claude Ave. corridor, an area that still does not have a single large grocery store following Katrina. Locally produced, affordable food and accessibility to all members of the community are among the core values of the project. This market model of a member-owned grocery store will be empowering to the community.

The store is slated to open in 2009 and will occupy a 5,500 square foot section of the old Universal Furniture building. The 1922 structure will undergo a complete renovation to house the Healing Center, a project spearheaded by Pres Kabacoff with vital support from many talented professionals, artists, and healers, which will also include an organic restaurant, yoga studios, gallery space, and a street university.

The grant will pay for development of internal capacity, including a market study and other feasibility studies, the financial pro forma, and Board training. Entergy’s Open Grants Program awards organizations that focus on improving communities as a whole, and looks for giving opportunities in the areas of arts and culture, community improvement/enrichment, and healthy families.

“Entergy’s support for this project is indicative of its benefit to the community. Entergy strategically deploys its grants to a wide range of high-impact programs,” said Phyllis Cassidy, executive director of Good Work Network, a local organization that provides resources to low-income and disadvantaged micro entrepreneurs.

NOFC is a local community group that believes in providing healthy, affordable groceries while supporting local and regional food production. The co-op is currently seeking members and is halfway to its first goal of 300 founding memberships by May 1. They are hosting monthly informational potlucks that are free and open to all members of the public. The next one is Monday, March 24, 6:30pm, at the Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church, 1325 Governor Nicholls St.

For more information email info@nolafoodcoop.org, or visit www.nolafoodcoop.org.