Last fall, the town of Alderson lost its only fresh grocery store. Since then, the Alderson Community Food Hub, a community-based nonprofit, has been working hard on the planning, construction, and fundraising necessary to expand the existing coop into a social enterprise fresh grocery store in Alderson.
The community nonprofit is in the home stretch of its campaign to raise funds for the grocery store project. Their online crowdfunding project on indiegogo.com will end on St. Patrick’s Day, Mar. 17.
To celebrate the end of their online fundraising campaign, Green Grocery 30 Days of Luck, the group will hold a St. Patrick’s Day Dance on Saturday, Mar. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Alderson Community Center. The family-friendly event will include music by the Goodson Boys playing country, rock and more, and Ben Luckett, spinning records. The opening date for the renovated Green Grocer will be announced at the dance. There will also be a silent auction, light refreshments, and popcorn and movies for kids. Admission is “pay what you can,” and free for children 10 and under.
This event and the ongoing fundraising work are supporting the expansion of the existing Green Grocer. The Green Grocer occupied a small corner in Patti Grafton’s well-known Wolf Creek Gallery on Rt. 12 in Alderson before Wolf Creek Gallery relocated to the Renaissance building. The Alderson Community Food Hub and volunteers have been working to renovate and prepare the old gallery space into a fresh grocery store.
Thanks to hours of community volunteer support, the grocer already has a new paint job and major improvements in what will be the cafe and deli space, which will be operated by Dawn and Billy Painter of Alderson.
The Alderson Green Grocer will offer expanded hours and a variety of payment options, including SNAP and credit cards. The Green Grocer aims to remain responsive to customer needs, while supporting the local food economy and local producers whenever possible.
For more information about the Alderson Community Food Hub or their expansion campaign, visit their website www.aldersonmarket.org or call 304-445-7893. You can support the campaign directly at http://goo.gl/IPdWW9 and follow it both on Facebook www.facebook.com/aldersonfood and Twitter @aldersonhub.