Round up at the register this June to support the Boys & Girls Club of the North Country!

The mission of the Boys & Girls Club is to provide a Fun, Safe, Positive place for all children of the North Country, under the guidance of caring adults. The Boys & Girls Club of the North Country (BGCNC) was founded in 2005 in response to the pressing need for affordable, high-quality, after school programming in the North Country. Because it is their policy to remain affordable, BGCNC is one of the only afterschool options for most low-income families in our community. They have been able to enrich the lives of youth who often fall between the cracks of other agencies. By ensuring affordable access, the Club provides a critical support system and safety net for low-income families.

“Our children are the next generations of this country. Being chosen as Partner of the Month and receiving Partner Funds will significantly help us sustain our mission of providing at-risk children a mentoring program that will instill values to assist in their adult lives. Properly arming youth with resiliency and life skills, and helping youth to fully understand right from wrong, will allow our BGCNC kids to become promising members of society. Partner funds will be used to support the BGCNC financial aid fund for our Afterschool and Vacation Camp Programs. The Club’s goal is to ensure that area children and teens have a reliable place to go after school and during school vacations, as well as access to high-quality, evidence-based programs and services that will enhance their lives and shape their futures as productive, caring, and responsible citizens. At BGCNC, no child is turned away, regardless of ability to pay.” – Sara Shovlin, Executive Director

Learn more about the Boys and Girls Club of the North Country on their website! 

About our Partner of the Month Program

Through our Partner of the Month Program, the Littleton Food Co-op sponsors a different local non-profit each month of the year. All of our Partners are locally focused, socially and environmentally responsible, non-political, and secular. Partners are chosen by our Members by popular vote, and each organization typically receives anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000.

We help to raise funds a number of ways:

• Round Up: Customers paying with a credit or debit card may round up their purchases and the balance goes directly to the Partner of the Month.
• Donation collection boxes with partner branding are placed at each register.
• Messaging about our partners is included in our weekly e-newsletter, social media posts, on our website, and in our weekly newspaper ads.
• Posters and flyers are displayed on our Community Board and around the store.
• Opportunities to meet our members, including info tables, grocery bagging, and other events.

Meet the 2021 Partners of the Month!

The following organizations were chosen by our Members to be our 2021 Partners of the Month:

Above the Notch Humane Society
Boys & Girls Club of the North Country
The Bancroft House – A Family Sanctuary
Second Chance Animal Rescue
Littleton Area Senior Center
Copper Cannon Camp
Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, Inc
Mt. Eustis Ski Hill
Organized Acts Of Kindness For Seniors (OAKS)

How Our Partners Are Chosen

Each year during the Summer we accept applications from local organizations, and our Members select the final Partners by popular vote. This year our Members will vote from September 16 – 30 2021. Voting is held online and we have paper ballots available as well. Only full or partial Members may vote by casting a ballot, and Members may vote only once per household.

The organization with the most votes gets first choice for their preferred month. Then the next organizations choose their preferred month, in the order of votes earned. We divide the organizations into categories each year so that there is a diverse variety of groups being supported; if any categories are not represented we choose the organization with the most votes within a category and add it to the final list.

We reserve January, October, and November for our Healthy Food Access program, the Littleton Cooperative Community Fund, and area food pantries respectively. In the event of an emergency situation that needs funding, we will contact the Partner for the month to see if they are willing to forfeit Round-Up earnings for three days.

Please note that organizations may not be a Partner of the Month for more than 2 consecutive years, but are welcome to apply in the third year.

If you have questions about our Partner of the Month Program or would like to apply, please contact our Community Outreach Coordinator, Becky Colpitts, at bcolpitts@littletoncoop.org

Apply to Become a 2022 Partner

The deadline to apply for our 2022 Partner of the Month Program is August 12, 2021. If you’re interested in finding out more about our program or would like to become a Partner, please e-mail bcolpitts@littletoncoop.org.

The Application Process

Each year in August our Members choose 8-9 organizations for our Partner program via popular vote. We want our Members to make an informed choice and also learn about the great work being done in our community, so we put together lots of promotional materials about the candidates, post flyers in the store, share posts and videos on social media, include information on our website and in our e-newsletter, and we also offer the opportunity to set up a table during our Partner of the Month Fair.

Partners must be a local 501(c)(3) non-profit, or under the umbrella of an established 501(c)(3) organization in the area. Please note that organizations may not be a Partner of the Month for more than 2 consecutive years, but are welcome to apply again after that.