Dozens of people joined Second Harvest and the St Joseph Metro Chamber to cut the ribbon at “Fresh Start, Your Community Market,” the nation’s first non-profit grocery store associated with a food bank.
Interim Executive Director Chad Higdon says the new concept will provide better service for the clients of Second Harvest, as well as a revenue stream that wasn’t there before.
“Intead of saying ‘here’s your food, take it and enjoy it,’ you get a choice,” Higdon says. “Now you come in and there’s donated product that’s available to pick from, but in addition to that we’ve got the shelves stocked with product that’s available to purchase in addition to the donated product.”
“Healthy, nutritious food, milk and fresh produce; we’re not looking at chips and pop.”
Fresh Start will serve as a nonprofit grocery store and food pantry that’s open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
To shop at Fresh Start, a person must first obtain a no-cost Fresh Picks membership card. Community members who have a household income of less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines will qualify for membership.
That means if you are a family of four and make less than $46,000, you may be eligible to shop. Membership will open access to the Fresh Picks program. The Fresh Picks program is made possible through generous donors and provides food free of charge to Members.
Additionally, Fresh Start will open access to nutritious food at affordable pricing, utilizing multiple forms of payment including cash, debit and eventually SNAP (formerly, food stamps). Members are encouraged to shop at Fresh Start because it will help create sustainability for Fresh Start. Members can take part in the Fresh Picks program once a week, but they can utilize other payment options as often as they like.
A critical component of Fresh Start will be its Empowerment Program. Fresh Start will train individuals through a 10-week program in retail best practices. These trainees will go through a one-week internship with a local retail store. At the completion of the program, Fresh Start graduates will be placed into employment in the retail industry.