December 21, 2006
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06-12/21 p 01-07 12/20/06 8:28 PM Page 1 OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE PARK SLOPE FOOD COOP Established 1973 Volume AA, Number 26 December 21, 2006 Member Profile: Giving What Debbie Kaplan Comes Naturally Public By Ed Levy Health he annual orgy of giv- ongoing non-seasonal gifts of since 1973 it has donated ing is here again, for food and labor in the neigh- food that is edible but can no T better or worse. borhood. Should it—can it— longer be sold to the soup Programs According to a nonprofit do more? Just how does the kitchen Christian Help in Park organization that tracks the Coop stack up in the giving Slope. And because the vol- patterns of charitable giving department? ume of food donated to That in the United States, 89% of According to General CHIPS is far more than the : all American households give Coordinators Joe Holtz and soup kitchen can prepare Work to charity, an average of Jess Robinson, the Coop with its own staff, the Coop $1,620 per household, to the takes its lead regarding chari- provides it with labor in the By Frank Haberle tune of $260.28 billion dollars table giving from the General form of more than 60 workers BY ZOË KAPLAN-LEWIS PHOTO in 2005. That amounts to Meeting, and over the years per month to prepare meals. trike up a conversation Public Health from Hunter 2.1% of the country’s gross the GM has consistently The Coop also sends labor in the Coop checkout College, then returned to the domestic product. Of that, opposed it. Appeals to the and food waste for compost S line. You might meet a field to monitor quality businesses contribute 5.3%. GM for food or money fail for to the garden on Union community activist, or a assurance and oversee clini- Giving is also good busi- a variety of reasons, Holtz Street. City Harvest also takes proud mother, or a 30-year cal services for Planned Par- ness—as well as a tax deduc- said, but most of all because food from the Coop that can- Coop member, or a singer in enthood of New York City. In tion, a subtle form of the diverse membership can- not be sold. a choir, or a public health 2001 she joined the DOHMH, advertising and a cheaper not agree on which charities Aside from gifts of candy in official who’s changing the where she now applies her means of improving a compa- are worthy of donations, and previous years to the bank way reproductive health ser- hands-on experience to pre- tellers who handled the vices are delivered in poor serve and expand programs Coop’s accounts, Holtz communities across the city. that work. remembers only one occasion And with a little luck, you “It’s the best job I’ve ever when the General Coordina- might meet all five at once: had,” Debbie says. “I get to tors made decisions about Debbie Kaplan, Coop mem- do things on a city-wide charitable giving without the ber number 693, and Assis- scale that can help women consent of the General Meet- tant Commissioner for the and teens, mothers and ing. That occurred just after New York City Department of babies. We’ve got four main the events of 9/11, five years Health and Mental Hygiene’s goals: to reduce infant and ago, when practically all (DOHMH) Bureau of Mater- maternal mortality, to lower donations to charity were nal, Infant & Reproductive teen and unintended preg- going to victims of the attacks Health. nancy, to promote breast and other charities were suf- For almost three decades, feeding and to address dis- fering. At that time, the Gen- Debbie has worked to parities in perinatal and eral Coordinators made improve health services for reproductive health.” The modest cash donations to underserved New Yorkers. last is especially important CHIPS and City Harvest at She started as a physician in a city where babies born their own initiative, and gave assistant in an outpatient to black mothers are twice as away a few hundred dollars clinic at Jacobi Hospital, then likely to die in their first year ILLUSTRATION BY LYNN BERNSTEIN BY LYNN ILLUSTRATION worth of food to workers at worked at a methadone detox as white babies, and black ny’s branding than other because enough people usu- Ground Zero. In the aftermath residential program, then women are more than four forms of generosity. Wal- ally object to any forms of of the attacks the firemen at launched a school-based times as likely to die during Mart, to take one example, largesse that will potentially the station next door to the health center. In the mid 80’s or after childbirth. Latina the object of numerous law- raise Coop prices. Coop were also granted hon- she received her Master’s in CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 suits for its ungenerous poli- “People have come to me orary member status by the cies toward employees, and said, ‘This is a really great GM so that they could shop nevertheless leads the list of school,’ or ‘Could the Coop whenever they wished—more businesses giving grants in take out an ad in our newspa- a gesture of neighborliness Next General Meeting on January 30 the United States. Compa- per,’ but it has never worked than it was of charity. The General Meeting of the Park Slope Food Coop is held on the nies that give to “non-com- out,” Holtz told the Gazette. The Coop also sends 40 peo- last Tuesday of each month.* The next General Meeting will be mercial” public radio now get ple to the Park Slope Communi- Tuesday, January 30, 7:00 p.m. at the Congregation Beth Elohim mini-advertisements dis- Organic Giving ty Council Civic Sweep twice Temple House (Garfield Temple), 274 Garfield Pl. guised as announcements. On the other hand, the every year, which spruces up the The agenda will appear in the next Gazette and will be avail- Many small businesses, too, Coop does engage in forms of nearby community by painting able as a flyer in the entryway of the Coop beginning Wednes- engage in charitable giving symbiotic giving naturally mailboxes, sweeping and clean- day, January 3. For more information about the GM and about and benefit from it. The Coop, related to its presence in the ing up trash. As part of the com- Coop governance, please see the center of this issue. not easy to categorize by any Park Slope and New York munity contributing to the wear * Exceptions for November and December will be posted. means, largely engages in communities. For example, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN THIS ISSUE Thu, Jan 4 •Food Class: Sea Vegetables, 7:30 p.m. Holiday Cookbook . 5 Coop Fri, Jan 5 •Film Night: Media That Matters—Short Films About Coop Hours, Coffeehouse, Puzzle . 6 Good Food, 7:00 p.m. Coop Calendar, Workslot Needs Event Sat, Jan 6 •Sustainable New Year: 4:30 p.m. Governance Information, Mission Statement . 7 Fri, Jan 19 •The Good Coffeehouse: Swing Street, 8:00 p.m. Workslot Needs . 7 Highlights Letters to the Editor . 9 Look for additional information about these and other events in this issue. Classified Ads . 11 06-12/21 p 01-07 12/20/06 8:28 PM Page 2 2 December 21, 2006 Park Slope Food Coop, Brooklyn, NY Giving What Comes Naturally CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and tear of the neighborhood, advertising at all, except for Because it is not a nonprofit the General Coordinators point- the line item that covers the (it might more accurately be ed out, it makes sense for us to cost of a PSFC string shop- called a “no profit corpora- be part of maintaining it and to ping bag that goes to every tion”), donations to the Coop be well thought of. new member. itself are not entitled to a tax Does the Coop need to write-off. Therefore, people engage in public relations or The Coop, not easy to catego- who give items like computers advertising in the communi- rize by any means, largely and scanners to the Coop ty? In a sense, yes Holtz engages in ongoing non- receive no tax deduction. The believes: The Coop has large Coop could potentially turnover. Because it loses at seasonal gifts of food and labor receive a tax write-off for any least 20% of its membership in the neighborhood. Should donations it makes, but every year (at current levels, it—can it—do more? because its profit is so small, about 2,600 members), and in most years deliberately amounting to a loss, it has to Technically and legally, the nonexistent, such a tax bene- remain known and respected Coop is a cooperative corpo- fit would be negligible. in the community in order to ration governed by a statute Holtz commented that a attract new members. At pre- known as the New York State small annual profit would not sent there is no budget for Cooperative Corporation Law. necessarily be a bad thing for the Coop, as it could serve as a hedge against any decline in the investments support- ing the defined pension plan Do you have for Coop employees. If there were such a decline, and the actuaries managing the plan WINTER CLOTHES determined it was necessary to add funds, a profit margin ILLUSTRATION BY LYNN BERNSTEIN BY LYNN ILLUSTRATION would serve as the reserve to you can’t use? guarantee its viability. Several other members aside from what it already said they strongly support gives? “I think it could afford Members’ Views the Coop’s helping other $10-15,000.00 a year,” Holtz Someone else needs them! A brief informal survey of food Coops.