Co-op Highlighted in Front Page IndyStar Article

Check out the article and photos in today's Indianapolis Star on near eastside improvements, including the efforts of Pogue's Run Grocer!  Front page, below the fold, or follow this link:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100430/LOCAL1803/4300327/-1/ARCHIVE/NFL-helps-launch-Eastside-on-the-road-to-recovery

Check out all IFC has going on...

• Check out Indy Food Co-op in the latest issue of Indiana Living Green Magazine

• Pick up the latest Urban Times and see a great photo of our mural volunteers

• Join Indy Food Co-op for Chew on This -- One night. 15 locations, 300 mouths chewing on Indianapolis’ food issues today and in the future, May 4, 2010, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eat, think and talk with neighbors, friends and new acquaintances at one of 15 different locally owned restaurants or community venues around the city. Over dinner, a facilitator will lead a conversation about “From local to global: How can we use Indiana’s strengths in agriculture and artisanal foods to position Indiana globally?” based on the book Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism by Richard Longworth. Each location will be limited to 20 people to encourage an intimate, yet fruitful conversation. Reserve your seat today. Indy Food Co-op will be participating in a pitch-in dinner and discussion at the John H. Boner Community Center - won't you join us?

• Also, help Indy Food Co-op, Slow Food Indy and the Indianapolis Vegetarian Society celebrate asparagus season with Asparagus, The Movie on Friday, May 7; 6:00 p.m. asparagus-themed potluck; 7:00 p.m. movie showing; $5 donation requested but not required

New Video Tells the Indy Food Co-op Story

Check out this fabulous new video put together by local videographer, 
Steven Shattuck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi6Lx8XhD1k

Mural Day Five: Artists Work Day

The volunteer artist team spent another five hours at the co-op today to work towards the finishing touches on the mural. While there is still some work to day (talk about incredible dedication from these volunteers), as more and more detail is added, the more sweet smelling the flowers become; the more juicy looking the peppers look; and everything is starting to pop out of the wall. Even if you drove by last week, you'll want to cruise by again this week to see the difference.

And, the mural is generating a lot of excitement in the neighborhood. A near east side neighbor said that the mural and the grocery were all the talk during church this morning. A dozen kids stopped by to see what was happening and learned about some new vegetables. A group of neighbors stopped by anxious to volunteer. A Latino priest rode by on his bike and asked about ways he could get his parish involved with the co-op.

And, this week, our membership has grown to 264!  That means that we have only 36 memberships to go to meet our store opening goal of 300. This community-owned grocery store is progressing, one member, one volunteer, one donation at a time.

Mural Day Four: Transforming 10th Street

About 40 volunteers came out last Saturday, April 10, to create a work of art of the east wall of the Pogue's Run Grocer building at 2828 E. 10th Street. Among those volunteers were members of the co-op, neighborhood residents, and about a dozen Tech High School National Honor Society Seniors.

After three years of planning, tangible signs of a new grocery store along East 10th Street have arrived. The volunteers painted a mural that screams FOOD so that there will be no mistake about the cornucopia of healthy, fresh, local food housed inside those front doors. Other volunteers working indoors worked on scrapping, cleaning and prepping the area that will soon be the office of the co-op's general manager.

The all volunteer artistic team lead the mural effort and dedicated hours of time leading up to the work day. That team included local graphic designers and Irvington residents, Sara Lunsford and Jackie Norris, local photographer, Coleman Norris, and near east sider, Sarah Charles. The Indy Food Co-op is so appreciative of these local artists sharing their time, talent and creativity to make the mural such a tremendous success!

Also, local videographer/filmmaker, Steven Shattuck, volunteered his time to capture a portion of the day on film. Look for his edited video on the Indy Food Co-op website soon, and thanks to Steven for contributing this additional creative element to the co-op effort.

Thanks also to the members who provided food to our hard working volunteers. Katherine dropped by a yummy Japanese rice dish, and Bruce provided an incredible pan of brownies flavored with a hint of tangerine zest (we need this recipe for the co-op cook book)!

Critical to our on-going success has been the support of the media to help spread the word about the co-op. Thanks to Jim Poyser and Moriah from NUVO Newsweekly and Bill Brooks from Urban Times for covering the mural project as well as the on-going progress of the Indy Food Co-op and Pogue's Run Grocer.

As has been the case along each step of the co-op development, it is through the hard work, dedication and generosity of the community that our community grocery store will open later this spring. Thanks alone is not enough. But, soon all the work and effort will pay off in the opening of an affordable, convenient healthy food option for Indianapolis.

Mural SCREAMS FOOD

For Immediate Release:

April 9, 2010

Julie L. Rhodes, 317.631.2220

c: 317.371.2788

Volunteers Create Delectable Work of Art at Pogue’s Run Grocer

Mural screams “FOOD” along east 10^th Street

INDIANAPOLIS – As cars drive briskly along the East 10^th Street corridor, generally the only thing drivers see is pavement and buildings. But, this Saturday, April 10, all that will change, as dozens of volunteers will descend upon the future home of Pogue’s Run Grocer to begin a transformation.

“Indy’s only community-owned grocer will create a mural entirely by volunteers to make a noticeable difference at the store location near the 10^th and Rural streets intersection,” said Greg Monzel, Pogue’s Run Grocer’s General Manager.

The east wall of the building located at 2828 E. 10^th Street will scream ‘FOOD’ as people drive by a facility that has in recent years been a third generation electronics retailer and a daycare, but never before a grocer.

In fact, the 40,000 residents living on Indianapolis’ near eastside have few options for healthy, fresh food in the community since two major grocery chains moved out of the neighborhood in the past several years. Many, especially those without vehicles and seniors, are forced to shop for their daily food needs at nearby convenience stores, offering only low-nutrition, high-cost options.

The mural was developed by local graphic designer, Todd Decker, whose conceptual design was selected by Indy Food Cooperative, Inc., the non-profit organization opening Pogue’s Run Grocer later this spring.

“I designed the mural to grab attention of people driving down E. 10^th Street and make an obvious statement that fresh food can be found inside,” said Decker of his design. “The inspiration for the mural came from farmers markets, and the images are from photos that I took of locally-grown produce at markets around Indiana,” Decker continued.    

In addition, a team of other local artists have helped bring Decker’s vision to life by overseeing the project, working several nights to transfer images to the wall in preparation of the volunteer workday. Those experienced mural artist volunteers include Sara Lunsford, Jacqueline and Coleman Norris and Sarah Charles. The wall will be created in a paint-by-number style to allow community participation, even from non-artists. Costs for the mural are covered by a Façade Grant awarded by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation through the East 10^th Street Civic Association.

In addition to the mural, interior painting will continue, as will the cleaning up of donated equipment from Cafe Patachou owner, Martha Hoover. This donation allows the co-op to open its doors with a delicatessen, initially considered cost-prohibitive without the donation.

 “Patachou’s donation of coolers, deli cases and dishes saves the co-op at least $12,000, and allows us to provide sandwiches, soups and salads on day one,” said Monzel. “Donations and volunteers demonstrate the true collaborative spirit behind our community-owned grocer.”

For more information about the event or Pogue’s Run Grocer or Indy Food Co-op, visit www.indyfoodcoop.org , E.mail greg@poguesrungrocer.org, or call 317.677.2076.

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About Pogue’s Run Grocer and Indy Food Cooperative, Inc.

In the summer of 2007, a group of individuals met for the first time to begin discussing how to bring the city’s only non-profit, community-owned storefront grocery cooperative to Indianapolis. Since that time, a group of dedicated volunteers have been working hard to secure a location, raise funds and build membership for a grocery cooperative near downtown. The goal of the store is to support the local economy, while making local, fresh, organic and affordable food and products available to urban neighborhoods that currently are not served by healthy grocery options. The store will be open to the general public, offering additional benefits to its members. In addition to operating a store, Indy Food Co-op is dedicated to educating the community on healthier eating through outreach programs, cooking classes and more. The organization has reached 257 members to date, and the store is expected to open its doors in late Spring 2010, seeking to reach the 300 member mark by that time. In addition to memberships, the co-op is being supported by many community partners offering grants, pro bono services and volunteer time. To learn more, visit www.IndyFoodCoop.org , www.IndyFoodCoop.blogspot.com

257 MEMBERS!!!!

Only 43 more members needed to reach our 300 member goal by store opening

 Have you become a member yet?

Join Now!

Community-Owned, Community-Supported!!!

Late last week, the Indy Food Co-op learned of a grant opportunity through the City of Indianapolis - some leftover Community Development Block Grant dollars from 2009 that needed to be spent on worthwhile community efforts.  So, the board and staff pulled together to complete the lengthy application. And, while that effort is greatly appreciated, there are lots more thanks to go around....

A HUGE thanks to Tammi Hughes at East 10th Street for again being our fiscal agent and working to pull information into the application;

A tremendous thank you also goes to the many people and groups who wrote letters of support for us with 24 hours at best and a few hours at worst notice. Please thank these amazing partners when you see them. Those groups include:

• Englewood Community Development Corporation, Joe Bowling and David Price
• Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, Josh Bowling
• Near East Side Community Organization, Chip Gibson
• Super Bowl Legacy Committee and John H Boner Center, James Taylor
• City-County Councillor Brian Mahern
• Indy-east Asset Development, Katy Brett
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Sara Van Slambrook
• Community Development Law Center, Shelia Jenkins and Kim Huizinger
• CODO Design, Cody Fague
• Architecture for Humanity, Teo Chun-Sheh
• Cottage Home Neighborhood Association, Maribeth Bailey

Suffice it to say that the list contains the names of lots and lots of busy people who basically dropped everything to help us out, and we simply cannot thank them enough! 


Now, cross your fingers and toes that we get this grant award!

Mural Day Four: Transferring and Reference Painting

WOW - the Indy Food Co-op is so fortunate to have so many talented and dedicated volunteers helping make Pogue's Run Grocer a success.  Tonight, our mural artistic team came together for the second time this week, to complete the transfer of the mural image on the east exterior wall of the store.  Tonight they also started painting a few areas of the mural to provide some helpful reference to the volunteers who will be assisting in a "paint by numbers" style mural on Saturday, April 10.

We simply cannot thank enough these incredibly creative folks who have for two nights this week spent time making this incredible mural on the co-op building.  You simply have to drive by and check it out and I think you will be as excited as we are.  Sara Lunsford, Jacqueline and Coleman Norris, Sarah Charles, and, of course, Todd Decker, the mural design creator, have been fabulous to work with and a perfect team for our mural project.

We also have to thank Indy Food Co-op's General Manager, Greg Monzel, for working to get our store open all day and then being there to help us out all night (we worked from 6:30 - 11:00 p.m. tonight).

Many folks in the community stopped by to talk with us and find out what is going on!  And, many are excited to see a grocery store coming to East 10th Street.

Please plan to help us on April 10. We will not only be painting the mural, but also working on other projects, including cleaning all the incredible equipment donation by Cafe Patachou!

Also, thanks to NUVO Newsweekly for stopping by to capture the fun on film!

Don't miss being a part of this important community asset! Indy's only community-owned grocery store is successful only because of all the support, enthusiasm, commitment and partnerships!

Thanks you Indianapolis for embracing the Indy Food Co-op!