Community Where You Would Least Expect It
I bet the last time you went to the grocery store for longer than 10 minutes you ran into someone you know.
Now I know what you’re thinking. For some people this may not be the case, but if you’re skeptical about your chances check out this article. The chances are actually extremely likely!
In the produce section you see your neighbors, down another aisle was a person you’ve seen at the Rec Center, perusing the meats is that lady who always walks her dog, and then around the corner is that person you introduce yourself to the first day of class and don’t remember their name for the rest of the semester.
Your local grocery store is the only place you can find such a mix of different people.
“Why is that?”
Well I’m glad you asked, grocery stores are always centers of the community. Everyone needs food. Whether you’re big, small, short, or tall, we all run on food, and since we all run on food we all need to get the food from somewhere. That is where your humble grocery store comes in.
However, there is more to grocery stores being akin to community centers than meets the eye. According to the Center for Rural Affairs, “Similar to a school, a post office, restaurants and churches, a grocery store makes a community a more attractive place to live”. They give people a place to discuss and understand what events have occurred, or what the talk of the town is, on a local level.
These stores do not just offer customers a location to connect but also a place to be able to give back to the community.
As the weather begins to get warmer and warmer, and the flowers begin to bud and the sweet smell of growth is in the air you already know what is coming-
Girl Scout Cookie Season.
Between January and April thousands of Girls Scouts put on their sashes and smiles and take to the streets in order to share their savory snacks with the rest of us. But where is the best place to set up their operation and have the most community outreach? You guessed it.
Grocery Stores offer the perfect place for a Girl Scout to set up shop. But some may ask, “What does buying Girl Scout cookies at the grocery store have to do with community?” It has everything to do with community.
When you walk up to your King Soopers, Safeway, or whatever grocery store is nearest to you, and you purchase a $4 box of your favorite cookies, according to the Girl Scouts of Colorado website-
54% of proceeds go towards providing Girl Scout programming right in Colorado
21% pays for troop and girl rewards
25% Pays the bakery
So quite literally when you go to the grocery store and see the opportunity to purchase cookies and act upon that natural Girl Scout Cookie Season instinct you are not only having a one-on-one interaction with a community member, but also feeding back into a positive experience for many other community members.
Similarly, in the winter months there is always the familiar ringing of Salvation Army bells outside of the local grocery stores. And contrary to popular belief, according to the Red Kettle Volunteer FAQ, “There is no national fund raising in The Salvation Army. Funds raised in each community are dedicated to best serve the people in that community who are recovering from many kinds of personal disasters”.
In a world where there are Amazon shops where one can walk in and out without interacting, the traditional grocery store continues to live on. This speaks volumes to the inherent human need to interact with one another. Without these interactions, communities would become segmented more than ever. Some may consider this extreme but it is the little things that knit a community together, and grocery stores are just the start!
Next time you are paying homage to your local grocery store, you can revel in the fact that you are the driving force in what creates a sense of community in your city.