Last week, we alerted the community about issues with our aging bakery oven. Within minutes of posting the story, an outpouring of potential donations and loan offers surfaced. It’s incredible to see how our membership rallied so quickly. This overwhelming support really shows how much the bakery means to our community – it is truly heartwarming and exciting!
Lucky for us, the oven has been a known issue for some time. We’ve been limping it along, hoping it would last just a bit longer. Back in 2022, we placed money into an interest-bearing account in order to plan for replacement down the line. Because of that planning, we are well seated to invest in a new oven. However, since so many of you have inquired about ways to support us, we have added an option for your patronage dividend to be donated to the oven’s replacement fund. Every little bit helps, giving us more strength to revise and replace this critical piece of equipment. By leaning into the co-op spirit, this makes it a true team effort!
So, if you decide you want to support your co-op by donating your dividend, please check out the member dividend request form here and opt for donating to replace the oven in Quincy. If we find that we don’t need to tap into this money, we will set it aside for potential future exciting plans. I’m so grateful to be a part of this community-owned business. It’s times like these that I have to reflect on the true meaning of “member-owned”. It’s YOU that makes this co-op so special and unique.
Sincerely,
Marcie Wilde, General Manager