2025 SEED Recipients

The Seward Co-op SEED program is a way in which we work towards our Ends. The SEED program is a simple yet powerful community giving opportunity that allows customers to “round-up” their grocery bill for recipient organizations that share our commitment to a healthy community. All funds donated at the register are given directly to the recipient organization at the end of each month. Pre-pandemic it was not uncommon for monthly SEED round-ups to total $20,000 or more. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have noticed a decline in monthly SEED totals. Please consider rounding up your purchase or tacking on any extra dollar amount to support the work of our SEED recipients.

Community Choice SEED Results

In 2025 there are eight SEED recipients, four of which have been selected by a Seward Co-op staff-led committee, and four which were selected by our community through a Community Choice vote.Four months will be dedicated to Seward Co-op’s needs-based program, which assists households with financial need by providing a discount on grocery purchases. You can find more information about our needs-based discount here. These four months will be spread out over the course of the year.

During the 2024 Annual Owner Meeting we announced the 2025 SEED recipients selected by the staff-led committed – listed below-, our People Powered Perks recipient and the result of the Community Choice vote. This year’s People Powered Perks grants recipient is the Midtown Greenway Coalition.

Seward Co-op owners and customers are invited annually to select four SEED recipients in Community Choice voting. All SEED Community Choice finalists receive a $1,000 grant through the Seward Community Fund. The four organizations selected as the 2025 SEED Community Choice recipients are Dream of Wild Health, RECLAIM, Southside Food Share, and Twin Cities Food Justice. Thank you to all those who voted!

Learn more about all of the 2025 SEED recipients below.

Round Up for Seward Co-op’s Needs-Based Discount

A Seward Co-op staff member helping a customer at the register

This February, round up for Seward Co-op’s needs-based program, which provides a discount on grocery purchases to assist households with financial need. Throughout 2025, there will be four months—spread across the year—dedicated to supporting this program. The needs-based discount is utilized by co-op owners with financial need and who are currently enrolled in Minnesota Food Assistance/Support, Minnesota Health Care, Social Security Disability Insurance, Section 8 housing, or the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC). The needs-based program currently serves 2,300 of the 25,000 Seward Co-op owners, and rounding up in support of it helps ensure that the program can continue to directly support our community of owners.

Throughout the rest of the year, there will be eight other SEED recipients, four of which were chosen by a staff-led committee, and four of which were chosen by community vote.

Learn More

2025 SEED Recipients:

The 2025 SEED recipients are listed below by the month they will be featured. The Community Choice recipients are listed in purple.

January

Southside Foodshare

Southside Foodshare is a mutual aid project that cooks and delivers wholesome meals to unhoused neighbors in South Minneapolis four days a week, with respect and dignity. Southside Food Share is all volunteer and donation based.

February

Round up for Needs-Based Discount

Seward Co-op’s needs-based program assists households with financial need by providing a discount on grocery purchases. You can find more information about our needs-based discount here.

March

Brian Coyle Food Shelf

The Brian Coyle Center Food Shelf provides culturally affirming and nutritious food to the Black, Brown, low-income, and immigrant households in Cedar Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis.

April

Daryeel Youth Services

Daryeel Youth Services provides weekly street outreach, education, basic needs resources, and resource and program referrals to East African young people ages 12-25 who are experiencing challenges of homelessness, substance use disorder, and interactions with the criminal justice system. They also educate and engage the families of these young people, as well as elders and other concerned community members.

May

Round up for Needs-Based Discount

Seward Co-op’s needs-based program assists households with financial need by providing a discount on grocery purchases. You can find more information about our needs-based discount here.

June

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 their team.

July

Little Earth Residents Association

Founded by grassroots activism in 1973, Little Earth supports the single largest community of Native Americans in the Twin Cities. Their work is by Native people for Native people. They we reduce service barriers by respecting the voices of all in the community. They honor traditional Indigenous values throughout all cycles of life.

August

Round up for Needs-Based Discount

Seward Co-op’s needs-based program assists households with financial need by providing a discount on grocery purchases. You can find more information about our needs-based discount here.

September

Twin Cities Food Justice

TC Food Justice is a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization working to reduce food waste and hunger in the Twin Cities by moving abundance to places of need throughout the food system. They partner with co-ops, markets, bakeries and farmers to redistribute fresh, unsalable food to hunger relief organizations, community kitchens and food-insecure populations.

October

Dream of Wild Health

Dream of Wild Health is celebrating 26 years of working to restore health and wellbeing within the Twin Cities Native American community! SEED funds will support their Youth Education and Leadership programs, which provide culturally-based lessons for Native youth to learn about regenerative organic gardening, healthy foods preparation and nutrition, and Native cultural traditions while gaining employment and leadership skills.

November

Round up for Needs-Based Discount

Seward Co-op’s needs-based program assists households with financial need by providing a discount on grocery purchases. You can find more information about our needs-based discount here.

December

Avenues for Youth

Avenues for Youth partners with youth between the ages of 16 and 24 that are experiencing homelessness. Through two shelters and two community-housing programs, Avenues supports 300 youth annually, and on average over 70% will exit to their own stable housing.