KUDOS TO THE COOP/HAPPY TO STAND ON LINE

Dear Park Slope Food Coop,

We want to thank you for the heart-warming and inspiring experience of shopping at the Coop last Saturday (March 14th) in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. In 2012, after being an active working Coop member from 1978 till I retired 30+ years later, my husband and I moved 100 miles away. In 2019 a new rule enabled my husband (at age 71 and a working member for over 10 years) to retire, and we rejoined as “elders” (who can shop without working shifts), driving in monthly to partake of the Coop’s bounty.

This weekend after making a remarkably traffic-free 100-mile drive into Brooklyn, we stood for an hour on a friendly line with fellow Coop members after which a firm but friendly monitor let us into the Coop four at a time (so as not to overload the shopping floor in this time of social distancing). We then entered an exceptionally cooperative and even harmonious environment where there was plenty of whatever we needed on most shelves with workers scurrying to replenish most of what was missing.

We left completely secure in having whatever we need to nourish ourselves over the next several weeks lest we’re quarantined. And feeling reassured that the possibility of cooperation and harmony is not only possible in this world but actually already exists at our Coop.

Appreciatively,

Heidi Rain, Tom Oleszczuk

P.S. Thanks, Joe! The Coop today is not only still surviving but thriving, in large part due to your strong persevering guidance.