In honor of long-time River Valley Market member-owner Austin Miller, who passed away last October, we have renamed our Co-op Hero Awards the "Austin Miller Co-op Hero Awards." A lasting tribute to a person who was instrumental in our success.

 

Last year, the first year the awards were given, our Co-op Hero Award winners were 1) Member-Owner: Austin Miller, 2) Local Business Partner: Greenfield's Market, and 3) Local Vendor: Bart's Homemade Ice Cream. Join us now in nominating a new batch of co-op heros for the 2010 awards!

 

The Austin Miller Co-op Hero Awards have been created by River Valley Market to recognize: 1) an individual, 2) a non-profit organization and 3) a business in the Pioneer Valley that strive to support and strengthen cooperative values and the cooperative principal of Support for Community. Cooperatives are based on the values of working together to create self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative member-owners believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others.

Do you know someone who you'd like to nominate? Please submit your nomination to Member Services Manager Betsy Powell by June 14. Winners will be announced June 17th, at the Strawberry Ice Cream Social. Please give specific examples of how this person, non-profit organization or business has promoted cooperative values and/or principles. Be sure to include:

 

Your name:

Your member number:

Your email address/ phone number:
Nominee:

Nominee contact information:

Category: individual, non-profit organization, business.

Explain how your nominee has promoted cooperative values and principles:

A little about Austin Miller: He was awarded the first annual Co-op Hero Award during our cooperative's celebration of the first birthday of our store on April 30th, 2009 for extraordinary support from a co-op member-owner. Austin tirelessly and passionately championed the dreams of our membership for a locally grown food co-op in Northampton.

 

Austin was a founding co-op member-owner whose career was devoted to serving people in Western Massachusetts by supporting community development projects that provided low income housing, shelter for victims of domestic violence, and food for the hungry. Austin specialized in securing financing for projects that directly benefitted people in need and strengthened our communities. Austin was the financial consultant who secured the financing agreements between River Valley Market and the banks that provided the mortgage for our co-op start-up project in Northampton.

 

Our community lost a good friend when Austin passed away on October 30th, 2009. In honor of his efforts on behalf of all of us, River Valley Market's Board of Directors will make a donation in the name of Austin Miller and this year's three Austin Miller Co-op Hero Award winners. The donations will go to one of the causes that Austin actively supported, this year's donation will go to the food bank.