Meet the Leaders of the Revive & Thrive Project

For some time now, the Directors here at the CoOp have been wanting to find a charitable organization to support.  When we met the leaders at the Revive & Thrive Project, we knew it was a perfect fit.  Their organization combines supporting sustainable local agriculture, educating local youth about healthy food, and the care of our community members afflicted with serious illness.   Below is their overview, and we encourage you to take a look.   They will have a booth near checkout this evening to answer questions and meet our members.  If you would like to learn more or get involved, please stop and say hello or check out their website at http://www.reviveandthriveproject.org/  

You are sure to be inspired by the work they are doing.

The Revive and Thrive Project is a 501(c)(3)organization and an affiliate partner of the Ceres 

Community Project in California, bringing the highly successful Healing Meals for Healthy 

Communities model to Grand Rapids. 

Mission: The Revive and Thrive Community Project combines the power of healing meals 

with the heart of community service to support a vibrant food system, promote the benefits 

of healthier eating and empower the leaders of tomorrow. We pursue this by:

 Supporting individuals and their families struggling with serious illness with 

nourishing and healing meals;

 providing teens with healthy eating skills and leadership development while 

activating their efforts in service to others;

 connecting individuals, local food growers, educators and healthcare communities to 

promote a more sustainable local food system.

The innovative and evidence-based Healing Meals for Healthy Communities model employs 

strong social networks centered on healing foods, experiential service learning, and holistic 

nutrition education programs. Our four core areas include the following:

 Teen Leadership & Empowerment: Gardening and culinary programs empower teens with 

healthy eating skills. Our leadership program teaches valuable life skills while promoting 

the value of serving those in need.

 Healing Meals:  Providing families dealing with life threatening illnesses with free and 

delivered nutrient-rich meals, nutrition education and a community of support. We use 

whole, fresh and organic/chemical free foods to support healing and recovery.

 Nutrition Education: Educating our local community about the synergy of fresh, healthy 

foods, strong social networks, local sustainable agriculture, healing and wellness.

 Community Support: Providing an intergenerational and multicultural program to connect people to one another as a valued part of the community.

Impact Statement: To support health of the community by restoring the place of naturally 

produced, local, farm fresh foods at our table and promote the vital relationship of these 

foods to our health. Creating compassionate, caring connections is at the heart of our work. 

We wish to develop collaborative partnerships to strengthen the community while more 

efficiently utilizing community services.

Revive and Thrive Project Grand Rapids, MI www.reviveandthriveproject.org  616-581-4103

Annual Meeting is Wednesday April 29 6:30pm

Hello CoOp Members and Producers!

It's that time of the year again when we invite everyone to our annual meeting.  On Wednesday, April 29 at 6:30pm we will be at the CoOp building at 1475 Michigan St. NE to discuss the "state of the CoOp". 

The meeting will begin with an introduction to our current board members.  Following that we will hear an overview of our accomplishments over the past year, with reports from each committee. We will also give a financial report, including our budget and projections for this coming year.

There are two board seats up for election this year.  If you are interested in running, please contact Danielle at helpwmcoop@gmail.com .  If you are a producer, committee member, or have volunteered more than five times in the past year, you may cast a vote for the Board of Directors.

This year, we would like to get more involvement form our members and producers on our committees.  The board would like to see more of the actions initiated at the committee level to allow the board members to focus more on long-range goals.  For more information on our Committees, please refer to this link  http://www.westmichigancoop.com/about/leadership

 If you have been considering getting more involved, or have questions or ideas to share, this is your chance! 

We will also be serving refreshments, so it will be a nice chance to mingle with fellow members and producers.  For planning purposes, please send an email to helpwmcoop@gmail.com if you are going to attend.  We hope to see you there.