Comments and Suggestions
December 10, 2008
I love those frozen apple and chicken sausages but I haven’t seen them in a long time. Also, please make that wonderful cranberry sauce again for Christmas?
There has been so much demand for meats from local farms, we created more space in the meat freezer door by discontinuing the slower moving packaged meat products we were carrying, one of which being the apple chicken sausage from Applegate Farms. We’d be happy to special order this product for you, just ask at the register for details. If space opens up in that freezer door we will keep your request in mind, promise!
Thank you for the compliment on the cranberry sauce, that was the recipe of our Deli Coordinator, Luke Dorsey! She will be making it again for the two days before Christmas and it will be on offer in the deli grab and go case.
Please add #6 coffee filters and non-fat plain yogurt.
I am happy to say we do have non-fat plain yogurt in stock, you can find it in the yogurt section of the refrigerated case. We’ve found a source for the #6 coffee filters, they’ll be on the shelf in the cleaning supplies area later this week and we’ll see how they do!
Can you order Traderspoint cheeses?
We have a source for their pourable yogurt but not for their cheeses at this time.
Dark chocolate chai tea please--it is wonderful.
We’ve never heard of that, sounds delicious! We’ll keep our eyes out for such a product but if you know a brand please share it with us and we’ll see if we can get it in. Thanks!
Christmas goose?
I’ve asked all the local animal farmers we know in the area and no geese. I just spoke with Diann Moore from the Moore’s Family Farm in Watseka and she said the issue is that there is no known meat processing plant in IL that will process geese. She’s even looked into the southern Wisconsin region and Indiana for such a processor, and no luck. We’ll keep checking on this situation, but we won’t have geese this Christmas season. Thank you for checking with the co-op!
Please carry apple cider packets or mix to make at home!
We haven’t been able to find organic cider mix, but we’ll keep looking for the next fall season.
Please carry 80%+ cacao chocolate bars.
We do! On the top shelf of our snack rack across from the register are the AlterEco brand fair trade chocolate bars and we offer their “Dark Chocolate Blackout” bar made with 85% cacao that is sourced from Bolivia. Enjoy!
I just wanted to say I love the new store. I use to be a member back in the 90's and I am happy to be shopping again now that we’re in this beautiful new space!
We are so thrilled that you love the new store – welcome back! Much of the credit for the look of the store goes to Meagan Luhrs, your co-op’s outreach coordinator, who took many of the photos on the wall, picked out all the colors and generally made all the decisions that make the place so lovely. Thank you, Meagan!
Put the tables inside the store for a livelier atmosphere, rather than in the soulless mall hallway.
Thank you for the suggestion! We debated this idea a lot while designing the store but felt there just was not enough room to have in-store seating and carry all the product members were requesting. To have seating in the store, we would extra health code laws we would have to meet that we did not plan for as we knew we weren’t going to have enough room for that seating. But don’t despair! We are working on ways to make the hallway more inviting and welcome your suggestions. I’ve been very happy to see that the tables in the hallway are often filled with co-op patrons since the cold weather arrived and we are grateful to Lincoln Square Mall’s owner for allowing us to use that hallway free of charge.
Is BioPac dishsoap petroleum free?
Boy, is this one tough to answer. Check out their answers at:
http://www.bio-pac.com/cleaners/realstory/
I did a half hour of research on the internet to find an answer for you and I became more confused than ever. Home cleansing products are tricky – some people define some chemicals as bad for people, others swear they have the toxicology reports to prove they are not. And the chemicals in “green” cleaning products, what are they really? What are they sourced from? It takes a lot of study to put it all together. What I can tell you about BioPac is that by offering cleaning products in bulk much less petroleum is used to make plastic containers and that we can further prevent more petroleum products being created by filling up reused containers with our BioPac products. Bulk buying is a powerful way of decreasing petroleum use.
Please, please have ingredients on your deli items. Some don’t even say what they are when they are in the refrigerated section. There are always containers with no labels on them.
Thanks for writing. We are making all sorts of changes in the deli’s refrigerated grab and go section and working on improving this very issue! We are working on standardizing more of our recipes so we can make stickers to put directly on the containers with ingredients and prices right on them. Look for this improvement to be in place within the next few weeks!
Maybe fresh mozzarella?
We agree! We are looking for a source right now and hope to have it in soon.
Please, I miss my usual scent! Can you carry the SAGE European Soap again?
We’d love to, but we can’t, its been discontinued by European Soaps. Sorry!
Equal Exchange’s wasabi almonds are very good. I recommend the co-op get them.
Equal Exchange does not offer wasabi almonds (what a delicious-sounding idea!) but we do carry their tamari-roasted almonds. They are available pre-packaged in the shelves on the bulk department work station.
November 11, 2008
We love getting comments and feedback from all of our owners and customers! Below are a whole bunch that came in over the past few weeks. I’ve done my best to answer all of them and, when I didn’t know the answer, I went to the department experts to get their input. Keep those comments coming! Just request a comment card at the register and your question will pop up here in future shopper feedback installments!
In Cooperation,
Jacqueline Hannah
General Manager
Common Ground Food Co-op
Ciao Bella makes an awesome mint chocolate gelato, what are the chances we could start carrying that?
Thank you for the idea! Right now, I don’t have room for more Ciao Bella flavors but we might try bringing it in for winter and letting go of one of the fruit sorbets for the season. We’ll keep you posted. – Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
We’d be interested in amchoor powder for Indian cooking.
Hmmmm . . . I will do some research. I have not seen this offered by any of our distributors but I will see what I can find out. Thanks!
Quorn Roasts please, they are about 1 lb.
Quorn is a popular line at the co-op, and it's delicious stuff! I will see if I can find a way to make room in the freezer case to add this product.
Corn tortillas, por favor!!!
We’ve been looking for refrigerated ones for months and have had no luck. I was not the biggest fan of the quality of the frozen ones, but I’ll bring them back and let you all be the judge. Thanks for the request.
Please bring back Amazing Grain burgers!
I’d love to, but they have been discontinued by our distributor, sadly, and I cannot order from the company direct because they have no way to ship them to us as they are a frozen product. I’ll keep my eyes open and see if the distributor brings them back, I promise.
Please bring back the hummus from the old co-op!
I promise, we are working on it. Since we have moved to the new location we now have to comply with health code laws. The hummus was made by a member in her kitchen but, because her kitchen is no longer certified, we cannot buy her hummus any longer. Dozens and dozens of members have been asking for the return of this hummus so I have contacted the woman who makes it and she has agreed to give us her recipe, stay tuned!
You need to start carrying biobags tall kitchen bags. You have the dog waste bags but no kitchen bags.
Good idea, I hadn’t run across those but I can order them. Look for them in the store soon!
What is going on with the LINK machine? Please make all effort to correct LINK card. You are conveying dis-interest in those who need assistance.
I am sorry that seems the case; it is anything but true. Thank you for all the comments we’ve received from at least a dozen owners expressing concern. Trying to get the phone line for the LINK machine working has been a struggle. The people at LINK say we need a dedicated analog line. The phone company that installed our phone lines says we have one and that when they hook up the machine to it, it just doesn’t work. We are tirelessly trying to get this fixed, but, so far, everyone is giving us a different answer and no solutions. We deeply, deeply apologize for the difficulty this is causing our owners and customers, we are doing everything we can and know what hardship this is causing for some. We will keep you posted.
Where is the goat’s milk? Please bring it back; my daughter is allergic to cow’s milk.
Thanks for writing. We were very excited to have room in the new store to carry it but, unfortunately, week after week more than half of the 18 bottles that come in a case would go out of date and we’d have to give them away or even throw them away. Sometimes we’d actually lose 14 of the 18! It was no longer feasible to continue carrying it. If I get more requests I will give it one more shot, I’d really like to see the co-op carrying it as well.
Can we carry eggplant Parmesan cutlets in the frozen department?
There are so many terrific products out there that are frozen but only so much space. Right now, there is no room to add it as I have a list of more highly-demanded products waiting for space to become open in the freezer, but I will definitely keep it on my list for the future. Thanks!
I wish I could buy Moon Glo cheese from Prairie Fruits Farm in Urbana at the co-op.
Your wish is granted! We have talked with Leslie and Wes at the farm and they are happy to sell the co-op some of their Moon Glo cheese in wheels, we just have to get set up to do the cutting, packaging, and labeling. We are working on this as we speak and you should see it in the case soon.
Could you get the Jerusalem frozen pitas again? We had them at the old store.
Thank you for writing. We now carry Oasis fresh pitas in the refrigerated department. These pitas are less expensive and we’ve been getting a good response to them from customers. I will definitely add it to our growing list of wished-for items in the frozen department, though, and keep an eye out for space that might develop to put them on the shelf.
Please carry xanthan gum in bulk, or some other size.
We don’t have the space right now to put xanthan gum in a bulk bin but I have found a packaged source. Look for it in the baking section soon. Thanks!
Please order the goat milk yogurt again! I believe it was the Seven Stars brand.
We are happy to report that we *do* have goat milk yogurt on the shelves from Red Wood Hill Farm, which is the one we’ve always carried. We have it in the larger size in plain only. Unfortunately, there was little interest in the vanilla flavor so we no longer carry it. We were out of stock of the goat milk yogurt for a few weeks due to an ordering error, but it is back on the shelves now. Thank you for your patience!
Please carry a green drink mix, you used to have the New Chapter version.
We did used to carry the New Chapter green drink mix and, unfortunately, it sat on the shelf, collected dust and rarely ever sold at all. I will order two more jars the next time I place a New Chapter order and we will see how they do this time. Thank you for your request.
Please carry locally-made pasta from Pasta Alley! It’s delicious!
We’ve just discovered this wonderful company and we are bringing several of their pastas for the co-op shelves in the next week or so. Thanks for the idea!
Would you carry Spry chewing gum, spearmint flavor? It comes in jars or packages.
We’ve looked into Spry (I use to enjoy the gum quite a bit myself) but have not yet found a source. We *will* be bringing in Peelu gum in the next few weeks, which is also yummy and good for your teeth. Look for it by the check out.
I like the Pekara honey wheat bread that is unsliced, is it possible to get this again?
It is possible, we will ask Pekara to start sending us some un-cut loaves again. Thanks!
Can you carry Light Life smoky tempeh strips “Fakin’ Bacon”?
We currently carry Light Life’s “smart bacon” strips which are very good. We are always happy to place a special order for an item, please let us know if we can assist you in placing an order for this item.
Bulk rice pilaf?
Thanks for the idea. We don’t have the space in the bulk department right now, but we can special order a 25 lb bag for you if you’d like, let us know. We do, though, have everything you’d need to make your own pilaf in our bulk department!
I really liked the fair trade Guatemalan coffee that was given away during the grand opening, is the co-op going to carry it?
Glad you liked it! We don’t carry the specific brand of coffee, but we do carry Just Coffee’s fair trade Guatemala coffee--it's wonderful!
Can you order Weleda deodorant citrus scent, which you use to carry?
We ended up discontinuing this item because it just didn’t sell. It’s a terrific product but, for now, the demand just doesn’t seem to be there. We can, however, special order you one, just ask at the counter for details on how to place your order!
It would be helpful to have tongs for the bulk raisins.
Ah, the on-going struggle over tongs or scoops in the bulk bins! By health code, any scoop or tongs have to be attached to the bin by a clean, non-porous cord and have its own slot to be put in when not in use. This means we can only offer tongs *or* scoops for each bulk item. So far, the feedback we’ve been getting from customers is that the scoop works best for the raisins. Thanks.
We’ve had a few instances of the Farmer’s Creamery milk expiring before its date. We love it but are afraid it will just go bad on us again!
Unfortunately, its not just you who has had this problem. Farmer’s Creamery makes a great product but it’s the freshest you can get out there and that means all those days in warehouses and in transportation take a serious toll on its shelf life. We are having to consider discontinuing Farmer’s Creamery milk for just this reason. We are considering bringing back Oberweis milk in its place. Please let us know what your thoughts are on this issue.
What happened to the local maple syrup? Can we get a grade A syrup in bulk?
We’d love to have the local maple syrup back in stock but the individual we use to buy it from seems to have disappeared – we haven’t been able to find them! If anyone has any leads on anyone local or regional who is selling bulk maple syrup and is licensed for resale please let us know! We do carry grade B bulk maple syrup in the refrigerated section, and it's quite good.
Hi! Could you please order more Blake’s shepherd’s pie again in the frozen section?
I have been ordering it, and ordering it, and ordering it . . . and its been out of stock with the distributor for a month and a half now. Due to this, I have filled its slot in the freezer with another product, at least for now. Sorry!
It we could be great to have a curb cut out right in front of the co-op’s double doors.
We agree! We’ve passed on the request to Lincoln Square management and they are considering it.
I’d like you to carry lactose free cow milk.
We haven’t had requests for it before and we’re concerned there would not be enough demand. Organic Valley does carry it and we’ll give it a test to see if it sells. Watch the shelves.
Can we get golden raisins? I’d love to have them for baking and Indian food.
Yes! We are looking for them and hope to have them in soon. We won’t be able to offer them in bulk, but we hope to have them in packaged soon.
Sunchokes please!
Yes! There has to be a good hard freeze before they are really ready to harvest but we will have local ones as soon that happens.
Could we get some sort of mints, like natural altoids?
Great idea, we’ll get Vermints, a natural Altoid-like product, in stock soon. They will be at the register counter.
I suggest that you don’t put chicken stock in an otherwise vegetarian soup. That way vegetarians can eat, too!
Thanks for your feedback! Every day in the deli we have at least one vegan soup and at least one vegan sandwich so there are options for everyone. We do occasionally use a meat-based stock in a vegetable soup because it is enjoyed by many customers and we’ve gotten great feedback on it, but we always have an alternative soup that is vegan on those days.
Peppered Tofurky, please! It is the best flavor of all the Tofurky sandwich slices.
We’ll bring it in soon, thanks for the tip!
Prices are really up. We now do less of our shopping here as a result.
I understand your concern. In the last year, food prices have risen exponentially. Food cost inflation for consumers is generally around 2% a year. In 2007, it was 6.7% overall and is expected to be even higher this year. Every time we get an invoice from our main distributor there are price increases listed, on *every* invoice. The local farmers we work with are telling us how tough it is lately, how much feed prices have gone up and how transportation costs are biting them. They don’t like raising their prices, but the crunch is just too much. Butter costs 31% more than it did a year ago on the retail market, egg prices are up almost as much.
We do everything we can to keep prices down at the co-op. As you know, the co-op is not owned by any one individual, but by over 2000 owners. Profits are necessary for any business to pay for future repairs, equipment, and to keep up a rainy day fund. That said, with no single owner attempting to make money off the co-op, we always set our prices as low as we can. The staff at the co-op works for the members, who are the owners, so there is no motivation to price high – quite the opposite, really!
I empathize with your pocketbook, mine is feeling the rising costs as well. But please rest assured our prices are never artificially inflated to “make a buck” off of you.
I’d like to see sparkling pear juice at the co-op again.
It’s back as of 11/15! We bring the sparkling pear juice in seasonally every year and its due to make its return now, yay!
I’d like to see Avalon Organics lemon shampoo at the co-op.
Hmmm, we didn’t even know it came in that flavor. We’ll see if our distributor carries it. Thanks for the idea.
Can we carry chunk TVP in the bulk department?
It’s a good idea. We have a few bins that are opening up, unfortunately, because the products have been discontinued by the distributors, so we may have room soon. We’ll keep you posted.
Clearly Natural bar soap, please.
We carry some terrific soaps from smaller companies (some *very* small) and a few brands that are very popular. That said, we’re always open to adding another great soap, we’ll see if we can find some room!
Orange juice concentrate fortified with calcium.
We only have one source for all natural concentrated juice right now and they don’t offer an oj that is calcium fortified, but we’ll keep our eyes open for a source. Thanks!
Can we carry block Parmesan?
Oh, do we ever want to carry this! We are looking for a source and hope to have it in stock soon, we’ll keep you posted!
It would be awesome if you would carry the Enviro stainless steel water bottles (20.2 fl oz) in plain stainless steel, no color. That way they can go in the dishwasher! Thanks.
Enviro offers several styles of water bottles in plain stainless steel, but not that particular size. We do have larger and smaller ones in stock that are plain steel from Enviro, though. I hope one of those sizes can meet your needs.
I love the co-op! I’d like to see:
Bulk honey
Bulk tofu
Bulk soy sauce/tamari
Thank you! We do carry bulk tofu, it is available in the refrigerated case. We carry it portioned in different sizes or you can buy an entire 4lb bulk package of it there.
We once had bulk honey. The problem with bulk honey is that it is terribly, terribly messy. Its hard to get open because it sticks, and once it is open, it is hard to close it again and cut off flow – hence, honey spills were a common occurrence at the co-op, which causes the loss of a lot of product and lots of staff clean-up time. And then it started attracting bugs . . . and we threw in the towel. We do carry lovely local honey in the nut butter and jam shelving unit, though, from Salem, IL that comes in large jars, we hope this will meet your needs!
Bulk tamari is something we may try again soon, once we find a way to make room for it. At the old co-op space, it did not sell fast enough and would actually develop mold on the top. Now that we have many more people shopping at the co-op, it might work. We’ll give it a shot and see how it goes. Thank you for the ideas!
Comments and Suggestions from September 15
"Please carry baby food and rice cereal for babies!"
We've literally had dozens of requests for these items and we are bringing them in! Look in aisle 1 by the diapers, we'll have these items in stock by Monday, 9/8. Thanks for letting us know you want these items, we're happy to bring them in. - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"I'd like to see Izzy soda or Gus soda or some other new and exciting soda in the cold case."
You are not the only one, we are looking into this and should have something in the case by Thursday, 9/11. We'll start with a few Izzy sodas and see what the demand is from there. Thanks. - Joni Wong, assistant grocery buyer
"What about carrying Sammy's millet and flax bread? Its soooo good and a great wheat-free option."
I've not heard of this one before, and upon looking into it, none of our current distributors carry it. I'll keep looking for a source for it. We do have Kinnikinnik gluten-free breads in the freezer case as well as locally-made, fresh gluten free bread on our bread shelf, over by the refrigerated section, and I've gotten great reviews on both, especially the local bread. Let me know what you think if you get a chance to try them! - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"Thanks for getting in the skim milk, but I'd rather see it in gallons."
We've gotten more than one request for this and I will be bringing in gallons of skim milk to meet the demand by 9/12. - Joni Wong, assistant grocery buyer
"Real, live, catnip please!"
While we don't currently know of a source for fresh catnip, we'll keep our eyes out. We are asking our friends over at Tiny Greens about whether they can grow some small trays of cat grass and we're going to keep asking around about the catnip. Thanks for asking!
- Jessy Ruddell, produce manager
"Reed's ginger ice cream is fabulous! Let's carry it!"
I checked into this and, unfortunately, no one currently distributes it in the Midwest. It sounds *amazing*, I will keep my eyes peeled for it when ordering. - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"More varieties of Amy's pizza, like soy."
I just brought it in and its selling so fast I can’t keep up – I am ordering several cases more soon!
- Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"Please carry Weetabix cereal."
I'll keep this on the list of cereals to try as we find out what cereals are selling and which are not. Right at this moment, we don't have the room in the section to add any more cereals. – Joni Wong, assistant grocery buyer
"I'd like to see:
Ciao Bella vanilla ice cream
Boulder Ice Cream green tea flavor
Cascadian Farm Cereal"
Thanks for the requests. We carry a *lot* of Ciao Bella gelato and ices because they are, by far, the best loved by co-op shoppers but I don't, yet, have room to add any more. It'll take a little time to see patterns of what folks do and don't want in this new location, but if I find there is one that isn't going very fast on the Ciao Bella shelf I will look into this vanilla next.
I love green tea ice cream too, yum! I talked to Sierra today, a sales person for Boulder Ice Cream, and told her I’d gotten a request for their ice creams. She said, unfortunately, they did not have distribution with any company in the Midwest as of yet but were definitely working on it. I’ll keep checking in with them periodically to see if the situation has changed.
Cascadian Farms is owned by General Mills. While we do carry some of their products that are in high demand or when they are the only source we can find for a particular item, we are committed at the co-op to supporting companies that have great staff treatment policies and a commitment to the well being of the environment that is sincere - and our owners and customers love supporting independent companies! We have many great options in our cereal aisle that are from companies with terrific labor and environmental practices. You can find more information on General Mills and their ethical and environmental practices here:
http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=23...
As I said above though, we will keep our ears open and if there is enough demand and a free space in the cereal department, we will definitely consider it. - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"Big things, like the chunks of energy items, are hard to get out of the bulk bin with spoons, maybe we could get some sort of clawed tongs?"
By health code, we have to have our spoons or tongs for bulk items attached by a short cord and all parts of it must be made on non-permeable materials - no tape allowed! We do have tongs that attach to the plastic cords but they are pretty small and just as frustrating as the trying to use the scoops. We're looking for another solution, but don't have one as of yet. - Joni Wong, grocery buying assistant
"How about carrying Chicago Soy Dairy ice cream? It's vegan, it's local!"
You mean their Temptation ice cream? You are not alone in asking, I am working on making space for it in the ice cream case as we speak, keep you eyes on that case, it should appear soon! - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"I recommend that we carry the following gluten-free items - pecan nut thins, Kinnikinick sunflower flax bread (they have the best products!)"
Your wish is our command! We have room in the gluten free section for one more cracker so we'll add Blue Diamond's pecan nut thins to our collection of their other crackers we carry. I didn't know about the sunflower flax bread, but we do carry Kinnkinick frozen gluten-free breads and their white bread is proving not to be so popular so once it is sold out I will give the sunflower a try. It is in the co-op freezer case as of this week. Thanks for the suggestions! - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"It would be helpful to include the ingredients on the granolas."
You are not alone in your request. We are working away at getting all the information together to re-do our bulk department tags and get ingredients on all items, we hope to have them all redone soon. Until we have the ingredients on the bulk department labels, there is a print-out of the ingredients at the bulk counter in the special order form box, and another copy at the register. - Joni Wong, grocery buying assistant
"Will we be carrying Nancy's yogurt?"
I will try to fit some into the case soon. Thanks for asking. – Joni Wong, grocery buying assistant
"What about having hoisin sauce?"
Great idea, I'll start looking for a source and see if we can bring it in soon. - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"I'd like to see dandelion root and gotu kola herbs in bulk, what are the chances of that happening?"
The chances are 100% - we are excited to announce that we have just set up a bulk medicinal herb section in our body care and supplement department and we have ordered in both those herbs!
- Shasta Homel, body care and supplement buyer
"Will the co-op still be drop off spot for Triple S's meat buying club this winter?"
We are just checked with the management at Lincoln Square and they are happy to allow us to invite Triple S Farms to use our parking lot as a drop off point for their meat buying club this year. So, the answer is a resounding, ‘yes!’ - Jacqueline Hannah, general manager
"I'd like to see dried blueberries in bulk."
I have considered carrying dried blueberries. They are quite expensive, though, about 24 dollars per pound. Please let me know if you (and, hopefully, others) would still be interested in buying them at that price. – Joni Wong, grocery buying assistant
"Would like to see fresh chipotle peppers and fresh mozzarella balls."
Chipotle peppers are smoke-dried jalapeño peppers, so they can't be obtained fresh, but we do carry the dried ones in our bulk herb section. We are looking for a source for the canned variety.
I have not found a source for fresh mozzarella balls (which I also love), but will keep looking. – Joni Wong, grocery buying assistant
"Where is the hot salsa?!"
We do carry a hot salsa--Frontera's Chipotle. It is with the other salsas. We also carry a very nice fresh, hot salsa in the refrigerated case. I hope you like them. – Joni Wong, grocery buying assistant
"We need trays for carrying our deli lunches outside.”
We’ve noticed! These are being ordered within the next few days, thanks for letting us know. – Luke Dorsey, deli manager
"The muffins are kind of pricey for the size, can you make them bigger?"
Thank you for writing. I have been working on making the muffins a bit bigger, I think you will be happy with their new, larger size. Our muffins cost a little more than the average muffin because these are no average muffins – they are made almost entirely with organic ingredients, often have local ingredients, and they are made fresh daily. If you see a muffin in our pastry case it hasn’t been sitting around for days like at many coffee shops and delis – it was made fresh within the last 24 hours. We think the extra pocket change for the co-op’s muffins is worth it because it makes it possible for us to use the very best ingredients and to guarantee they are fresh. – Luke Dorsey, deli manager
"We need a big community bulletin board in the co-op entryway."
Absolutely! A member just installed the community board yesterday! This board is just one way that Common Ground will help "build community." Thanks! - Meagan Luhrs, outreach coordinator