Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Rogers Park Food Co-op Seeks Volunteers, Members

 Linda Szarkowski, owner of Green Spirit, a raw food delivery business, places a sticker where she'd like to see the Rogers Park Food Co-op open at  a community meeting  in December.
Linda Szarkowski, owner of Green Spirit, a raw food delivery business, places a sticker where she'd like to see the Rogers Park Food Co-op open at a community meeting in December.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard

ROGERS PARK — Organizers behind the budding Rogers Park Food Co-op are seeking volunteers to help sign up hundreds of members.

Organizer Mary Meyer and her daughter announced plans for the member-owned co-op in December 2012.

Now they're seeking enthusiastic volunteers to help sign up at least 300 members for a one-time fee of $250.

"If we can get people on board and excited about this campaign to sign up owners, then we’ll be able to move to the next stage," said Meyer, which would be to commission a market study to find out where it would be best to open the grocery store. "As each stage moves forward, it becomes easier for people to see a more tangible result and more people will join in."

Meyer invited people who are interested in getting involved to attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Rogers Park Library, 6907 N. Clark St.

Meyer said members can either sign up for a membership with her or online when the co-op's new website launches sometime this summer.

There are other plans afoot to open a co-op elsewhere on the North or Northwest sides.

Chicago Market, founded by Rogers Park resident Greg Berlowitz, aims to recruit 1,000 members by late September.

But Meyer said in the world of community-owned grocery stores, there's no fear of competition.

"Everyone eats," Meyer said. "We think the pie is big enough. Every neighborhood in Chicago should have a food co-op."

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: