2023 Community Choice SEED

Community Choice Voting 2023

Seward Co-op owners and customers are invited to select four of twelve 2023 SEED recipients. Selection of SEED recipients is led entirely by a committee of co-op staff, the majority of which are cashiers. This grant committee takes great care to evaluate all applications and selects eight of the twelve recipients for the upcoming year. Those eight become our Staff Pick SEED recipients.
The committee also nominates eight organizations to be considered by community members, all of which will receive a $1,000 grant through the Seward Community Fund, whether or not they are ultimately selected as a SEED recipient. The top four winners of those organizations become Community Choice SEED recipients.

Learn about the Community Choice finalists below, and cast your vote for your top four organizations. Then, join us for our virtual Annual Owner Meeting on Tuesday, Oct 25 as we announce the 2023 grant recipients, including the results of the SEED Community Choice vote and Board of Directors Election.

Community Choice SEED Candidate Organizations

Below are short descriptions of the eight SEED organizations nominated by staff for consideration by community members, listed in alphabetical order. You can learn more about each by clicking on the name of the organization. A new window will open to the organization’s website.

Division of Indian Work
The Division of Indian Work celebrates 70 Years of Service in 2022 to the urban American Indian community. Our programming is culturally-based and includes our Horizons Unlimited Food Shelf, a vibrant Youth Leadership Development Program, and our Minozekwedaa Traditional Foods Program, which provides healthy Indigenous meals to our program participants, staff, and community.

Friends of the Mississippi River
Support from the Seward SEED program will help Friends of the Mississippi River engage people to protect, restore and enhance the Mississippi River and its watershed.

Hmong American Farmers Association
The Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) advances the economic prosperity of Hmong farming families in Minnesota by addressing racial and economic disparities in our local food systems. We support Hmong farmers in growing more profitable businesses while also building community wealth, encouraging sustainable agriculture, supporting equitable food access, and making fresh, locally grown produce available to residents in the Twin Cities area.

North Country Food Alliance
North Country Food Alliance is a food sovereignty non-profit that provides free deliveries of culturally appropriate produce and foods to small and mid-sized food pantries and kitchens in the Twin Cities. NCFA seeks community support to help fund our direct purchasing program from local BIPOC farmers in 2023.

Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association Renter Support Fund
The Renter Support Fund, operated by the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, offers low-barrier rental assistance to cost-burdened renters across Minneapolis. Renters use funds to maintain housing stability, catch up on debt, and avoid eviction and displacement.

RECLAIM!
RECLAIM provides financially accessible, specialized mental health care to queer and trans youth ages 12-25. Funds will be used to support a BIPOC therapist consultation group and will support the addition of a therapist to our team.

Sisters’ Camelot
Help Sisters’ Camelot nourish our community with free organic groceries and meals.

Somali American Farmers Association
The Somali American Farmers Association (SAFA) was founded to support Somali and immigrant farmers who focus on culturally specific, organic produce and indigenous African farming practices.