The first non-profit grocery store has opened in Missouri.
Second Harvest Community Food Bank’s Fresh Start is the nation’s first non-profit grocery store that helps the working poor.
To shop at Fresh Start, a customer must obtain a free Fresh Picks membership card. Any community member who makes a household income less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Income guidelines can sign up for free membership and buy or get free a number of items, including healthy and nutritious foods. Clients can access Fresh Picks foods each week and buy other foods using different payment options, such as cash, debit, or eventually the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Interim executive director Chad Higdon explained the new concept of the grocery store. "Intead of saying ‘here’s your food, take it and enjoy it,’ you get a choice. Now you come in and there’s donated product that’s available to pick from, but in addition to that we’ve got the shelves stocked with product that’s available to purchase in addition to the donated product. Healthy, nutritious food, milk and fresh produce; we’re not looking at chips and pop,” Higdon said in St. John Post.
Chief Operating Officer Tamara Grubb said in FoxNews, “There are 52,000 individuals that need our support, currently we serve about 15,000 a week… We’re taking a huge risk but based on our projections at this point we look at this program to be self-sustaining in the next 3 years.”
Fresh Start opens Monday through Saturday from 8 am to 7pm.
