Grow Fund Applications Open August 1, 2025
Using the interest generated by our participation in the Cooperative Community Fund, The Food Co-op will offer small grants to qualifying, local nonprofits to help them grow a healthy community.
Our grants are focused on the four pillars of community sharing:
Improving food access
Sustainable agriculture (both land and sea stewardship)
Healthy kids, families and animals
Supporting the cooperative model
Hear from last year’s winner,
The Benji Project
On Sunday, March 30th, The Benji Project gathered at the Quimper Grange for a reunion of three consecutive years of Pride Camp, a one-week summer day camp for LGBTQ+ young people ages 12-16 in Jefferson County. A group of 22 youth and adults, including former campers, family members, and friends, joined together to co-create a delicious meal. Guided by Chef Aimee Dailey-Fallat of Planted, participants appreciated the scents of various spices, admired the bright colors of the vibrant vegetables, and experienced the textures of the items on the cutting board. Chef Stacey Larsen provided rainbow-themed platters of fruits and cupcakes.
One parent said afterward, “The whole afternoon was amazing, from beginning to end.” Thanks to the Co-op Grow Fund, this intergenerational group came together around healthy and beautiful food, reflecting on the importance of community support for individual and collective well-being.
The Benji Project teaches mindfulness and self-compassion tools to young people and their families and communities. Through classes, workshops, and camps, they build capacity for stress management and emotional resilience. Their approach uses the Mindful Self-Compassion for Teens curriculum, which teaches core principles and practices that help teens respond to the challenges of these critical years with kindness. Research findings from this program indicate increases in emotional well-being and emotional resilience after taking the course.
The Benji Project hosts the only LGBTQIA+ youth (12-16 years old) summer day camp on the Olympic Peninsula. This year’s (2025) camp will be held August 11-15. To learn more about The Benji Project please go to:
https://www.thebenjiproject.org/
For full details about the fund and the application please go to: https://www.foodcoop.coop/grow-fund.
Applications open August 1–31st.