Local Produce Co-Op Leader Celebrates 3 years of Service

Aug 16, 2012 2:57 PM

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EAST ALTON, IL July 25, 2012: What started out as a few friends hoping to save a little money has grown into an amazing community wide co-op, thanks to the efforts of local co-op coordinator Di Rulo of East Alton. Di Rulo has participated in the co-op for a little over three years and celebrated her third year anniversary as co-op coordinator on August 7th.

The co-op brings a local group of volunteers together every two weeks to order produce from local vendors. The participants purchase a "basket" of produce that features enough produce to feed a family of four for two weeks. The contents of the basket change every delivery depending on pricing and availability. The co-op prices are much lower than typical grocery stores. Each basket is priced below $25. The produce is supplied by local vendors and supports local farmers. The volunteer run community based co-op in East Alton is one of many in the St. Louis and Metro East area. Participants order at the www.communityhelpingscoop.comwebsite. The produce is delivered every two weeks to the East Alton location at St Paul’s United Methodist Church, 10 Center Dr, East Alton, IL. Volunteers gather before the 6:30 distribution time to unload and sort the produce into equal baskets based on how many participants for that buying period. Di says "Thanks to the group of volunteers, we have the truck unloaded and the bags filled and out the door in a little over an hour. We couldn’t do it without the strong support of the community!" The co-op also offers many extra items from vendors at discounted prices. Most of the extra items are locally made and produced such as eggs, jam, jellies salsa, butter, honey and granola. With no long term commitments or fees to join, this is a great way to eat healthy on a budget! For more information on ordering, follow
us on our Facebook page at East Alton, IL

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