07/05/2018
As many of you know, this April we celebrated our fifth year at The Corner. What you might not know is that in January, because of a shortage of market funds, we considered closing for the winter. We'd exhausted our start-up grants, and fundraisers like raffle baskets just weren't enough to pay for tents, kids' programs or our part-time staffer.
As a market family, we decided we did not want to give up our Saturdays at The Corner. Even in the slower winter months, our vendors still wanted to come out. So as a team, we decided to give it our all —with full awareness that this year would either make or break the market.
Here are three steps we've taken to keep the market alive:
We became a non-profit. Led by Stephen Johnson, we are now a 501(c)(3). This makes your donations tax-deductible and formalized our aspiration to be a resource to other community-run, neighborhood markets. We hope this will open the door to private and government grants to grow ours and other neighborhood markets.
Vendors pitched in financially. Vendors voted to go from a pass-the-hat system to paying a small fee for booth space. This literally puts a roof over our heads (okay, red and white striped canopies!) and supports on-site programs and some marketing.
Volunteers gave their time. Folks like Emma of KW Homestead and Ingrid of Breadservice volunteered their time outside the market to communicate on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Neighbors, Girl Scouts and Grimsley students stepped up to keep the kids' programs happening. That let our part-time manager, Kathy, focus more on creating community partnerships, building our double SNAP program, applying for grants, supporting vendors and communicating with customers on Saturdays and through this weekly newsletter.
Not only has the market stayed alive, we are growing! We see customers old and new every week, and our vendors are dedicated to the community we've built.
How you can help
Financially, we are still just making ends meet. But now we have an opportunity to raise $6,000 through a Sustainability Grant from the Fund for Democratic Communities. For every monthly sustainer we sign up, F4DC awards the market $100. So for as little as $10 per month, you can help us earn this $6,000 grant and support things like kids' programming, the SNAP program, replacing our communal tents, recruiting vendors and keeping the market experience alive and thriving.
Pop by the market info tent any Saturday to sign up!
Sustainer contributions are tax-deductible. And you get a T-shirt. And some really cool VIP stuff like free swag and insider farm tours!
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