By JUNE KINOSHITA
Waltham Times Contributing Writer
The Charles River Food Co-op is running a “Member Bring a Member” campaign to grow its ranks now through Oct. 31.
“We are asking all of our members to reach out to friends, family and communities to encourage others to join us, with a goal of getting to 1,000 by the end of October,” says Scott Shurr, a director of the co-op as well as a volunteer with The Waltham Times. “For every new member you bring in before Oct. 31, you will have one entry into our raffle for some fun prizes. Just ask your friends to write your name on the membership form under ‘Referrer’s name,’”
Individuals can become members using the online membership form. This involves the one-time purchase of a share for $200, with the option to pay $25 per month for eight months.
The Charles River Food Co-op will be jointly owned by workers and consumers from diverse ethnic, cultural and geographic backgrounds. According to its website, the co-op’s products will include “high-quality, hard-to-find produce and specialty items, “providing the right ingredients at reasonable prices to enable us to recreate the tastes of home.”
The co-op is committed to protecting the environment by working toward carbon-neutral operations and offering bulk items, organic options, local sources and minimal packaging and plastics.
“Both our community and our employees have a voice in how the store is operated,” the co-op states on its website. “We support the economy by partnering with local farms and specialty food producers, and sourcing local items whenever possible.”
The co-op was founded by residents of Waltham, Newton and Watertown in response to the September 2021 closure of Russo’s, a popular Watertown produce market that had been in existence for more than a century. The co-op founders have said that they hope to establish a new food-shopping option offering an abundance of fresh, locally sourced produce that caters to the area’s diverse cultures.