Seedlings

Eastside Food Co-op’s Seedlings program makes it simple for shoppers to support organizations making a positive impact in our community! Shoppers make small donations at the register which add up to meaningful contributions to nonprofit organizations whose work aligns with our store’s mission.

2026 Seedling Recipients

JANUARY

Agate Housing

Agate is a “Housing First, Harm Reduction” agency with a mission to end homelessness and relieve hunger through action and advocacy. Agate is committed to making a difference in our community by helping people live their best lives on their own terms. We prioritize centering the voices and life experiences of people affected by homelessness by recruiting and hiring individuals who have personally experienced poverty and homelessness.

APRIL

Land Stewardship Project

The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a private nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture, and to develop healthy communities. LSP is dedicated to creating transformational change in our food and farming system. LSP’s work has a broad and deep impact, from new farmer training and local organizing, to federal policy and community based food systems development. At the core of all our work are the values of stewardship, justice, fairness, democracy, health and community.

Outdoor farmers market with various stalls selling fruits, vegetables, and flowers, under white and blue canopies, surrounded by trees.

Person holding braided decorative corn in a greenhouse environment.

FEBRUARY

Dream of Wild Health

Dream of Wild Health is one of the longest continually operating Native American organizations in the Twin Cities. We have grown into a 30-acre organic farm, native fruit orchard, and pollinator meadow in Hugo, Minnesota, with an office in the American Indian cultural corridor in Minneapolis. Our mission is to restore health and well-being in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy indigenous foods, medicines, and lifeways.

MARCH

Little Kitchen Food Shelf

Little Kitchen Food Shelf is an emergency food shelf in NE Minneapolis that removes zip code and income limits so that we can serve ALL who come to our doors, including our clients' companion animals. We prioritize stocking our shelves with fresh produce grown on-site at Grace Gardens and through partnerships with Twin Cities Food Justice and local gardeners. We also partner with many other organizations to expand our reach in the community beyond our doors!

MAY

Northeast Farmers Market

The Northeast Farmers Market (NEFM) is dedicated to enhancing the Minneapolis community with a vibrant and accessible market experience. Our mission is to provide quality products at affordable prices while fostering sustainability and community engagement in Northeast Minneapolis. NEFM is also a welcoming gathering place that enhances neighborhood livability. We prioritize reflecting the diversity of our community by offering a variety of local and organic food options that cater to all ages, backgrounds, and economic statuses.

AUGUST

Friends of the Mississippi River

For nearly 50 years Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness has been a leading voice for the ongoing protection, preservation and restoration of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Our organization was instrumental in the passage of the 1978 Boundary Waters Protection Act, which made the Boundary Waters what it is today. Our supporters defend the Boundary Waters against activities that erode its wilderness character and work to ensure that the BWCAW, Superior National Forest and Quetico-Superior ecosystem are managed according to sound ecological principles. Advocacy is a broad endeavor. We believe the future of the wilderness depends on people and getting the next generation of diverse people to fall in love with the wilderness.

JUNE

Friends of the Boundary Waters

Man volunteering at a food distribution center, packing items into boxes. Other volunteers work in the background surrounded by packaged goods and cartons.

JULY

Eastside Meals on Wheels

Eastside Meals on Wheels provides nutritious meals to seniors 60 years of age and older who cannot prepare their own adequate meals. Our services allow individuals to remain in their homes longer without the significant cost of nursing home care. Seniors who struggle with bills will cut back on medication, food, and utilities. We defray some of the cost of their basic needs.

Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) engages people to protect, restore and enhance the Mississippi River and its watershed in the Twin Cities region.
FMR envisions a river that is recognized and celebrated for its intrinsic values. Imagine with us a river where the water is clear and clean and safe to swim in, where fish and wildlife are healthy and abundant, and where scenic bluffs and cultural treasures are protected.
This is a river where residents and visitors can escape the rush of daily life to find solitude in a hidden backwater, wonder while paddling past towering bluffs, and connection to what sustains us.
Here you can catch fish that are healthy to eat. You can stroll through oak savannas and sand prairies alive with the diversity of our natural heritage. Here historic sites speak to the timeless connection between people and the river.
Envision a river accessible to all and a community that actively embraces this river ethic and welcomes its role as the Mississippi River's steward for current and future generations.

A young man delivers a brown paper bag and a meal container to an elderly man at a doorstep. Both are wearing plaid shirts. The door is open and they are engaged in the exchange.

SEPTEMBER

Every Meal

Every Meal is on a mission to fight child hunger. We focus our efforts on filling the food gaps children face when they’re not able to access school meal programs. Through our multiple food gap programs, we provide children and families experiencing food insecurity with access to “good food” that is nutritious, delicious, and relevant in more than 435 schools throughout Minnesota.

Woman selecting avocados in supermarket produce section

OCTOBER

Eastside Food Co-op Community Fund

Our Cooperative Community Fund is an endowment (similar to a scholarship fund) that is administered through Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation (a 501c3 non-profit organization), which makes donations to our community fund tax deductible. As we put more money in this fund, we accrue more interest. We use the interest gained each year to support organizations working in the food access, agriculture and environmental sectors.
The Eastside Food Co-op Cooperative Community Fund endowment is pooled by Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation with over 40 other food co-op community funds. Twin Pines invests in co-op development organizations. These groups have in turn lent these funds to over 30 US food co-ops. These hard-working funds leverage over $40 million for the development and growth of fellow food co-ops.

Two people in a workshop setting, wearing safety goggles and face masks. The person on the left has a shirt with a graphic that says 'Native Hero.' The workshop is equipped with machinery and safety equipment.

NOVEMBER

Division of Indian Work

The Division of Indian Work (DIW) has been a key contributor to the Native community for over 70 years. Our mission is to support and strengthen urban American Indian people through culturally based education, traditional healing approaches, and leadership development. We achieve this by focusing on community and delivering programs and services directly or in partnership with other organizations. We envision American Indian communities that build upon inherent strengths and create safe, healthy, and nurturing environments where everyone thrives.

DECEMBER

Ampersand Families

Ampersand Families was formed in 2008 to help older youth and teens in foster care join safe, loving, permanent families through adoption.
Over time, our work has evolved to prioritize family preservation and relative/kin connections whenever possible.
We work downstream with older youth who have spent years in foster care, and we work upstream with kids of any age immediately after they are removed from their parents, finding and engaging relatives and kin who can safely care for a child or sibling group while they are away from their parents, with family reunification as the goal.
When relatives/kin are not an option for permanency, we carefully prepare non-relative adoptive families for the complex and critical role they will play, particularly in transracial adoptions, and we ensure youth, once adopted, can maintain affirming connections to their first families, communities, and cultures.