Community Food Club (CFC) has experienced significant growth throughout its ten-year history, supported by assistance from the community, volunteers, and donors. They now serve over 9,500 people each month—twice the number of members since 2023.
This growth indicates the ongoing demand for CFC, but also presents challenges. It requires increased food sourcing, additional team members to maintain customer service standards, and more funding to meet the needs. Recent government cuts have coincided with this significant expansion, resulting in funding that has not kept up with the rapid growth.
To ensure each member maintains access to a dignified shopping experience that includes a wide array of fresh, healthy foods, CFC has implemented a couple changes.
Beginning May 1, 2025, CFC introduced a waitlist for new members and those inactive for over six months. Prospective members can join the waitlist online, by phone, or in person.
CFC will also implement a modest increase of $1-3 in membership fees. Despite experiencing over 31% increases in food and operations costs, this marks the first adjustment to membership fees in seven years.
According to their recent newsletter, “These programming changes were not made lightly and were crafted with input from our entire staff and our Member Advisory Council. Our team has been thoughtfully preparing for this transition to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible for our community. Our top priority is maintaining the high level of service and food access that our members rely on.”
The Community Food Club is financially stable and can continue serving its current members. They plan to revisit the need for a waitlist if and when additional funding becomes available.
Supporting our food clubs remains essential, whether through financial donations, volunteering, or connecting them with food donors. Stay updated as they find new ways to tackle current and future challenges.
