Invest in the power of communities to help friends, families and neighbors give each other access to affordable and free fresh, healthy foods.
A recurring gift of just $12 a month is enough help provide a week of free daily meals, fruits and vegetables for a neighbor.
Long-time Lower Price Hill grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, artist, community leader and Meiser's Grocery Wellbeing Coordinator
Melissa Baker with free onions and potatoes available as Meiser's Green Giveaways at the store.
Mission & Background:
Your Store of the Queen City is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that empowers communities to build neighborhood-based entities (like Meiser's Fresh Grocery & Deli in Lower Price Hill) that expand fresh food access and create community-based jobs by supporting the development and networking of resident-centered, culturally and economically inclusive enterprises in food desert areas of Cincinnati, OH.
Neighbors Feeding Neighbors
It’s a Tuesday afternoon at Meiser’s and the store begins to warm up with activity as the Lower Price Hill Cooking Club begins to arrive, led by three neighbors who work on Meiser’s Dream Team of grocery employees.
Asheena sorts through rescue items and ingredients in the refrigerator to begin prep. A mom stops by the deli, and peeks into the kitchen and asks “What are you making today?”
Jaz responds, “Homemade chicken, noodle and vegetable soup with crackers and a side of berries & cream, plus a sweet treat for dessert.”
Melissa adds in, “Sounds good huh?”
The mom responds “Smells great. Whatever it is, our family always has the Tuesday Community Meal, so I hope it is!” Two teenage volunteers pipe up, “Oh it will be!”
WHY GIVE:
Your gift helps neighborhoods like Lower Price Hill close the meal gap and recover from food apartheid, ending food desert status so families can drastically change their long term health outcomes through access to affordable fresh, healthy foods.
Solutions like this not only increase access to foods on a daily basis, they are reducing transportation costs to convenience and grocery stores by nearly $4,000 a month in small communities.
WHY US:
Your Store of the Queen City is community-based: helping communities create their own food solutions that are designed and run by neighbors, for neighbors, just like Meiser's Fresh Grocery & Deli.
We invest in our community, dishing up food career and business development opportunities right alongside emergency food resources & programs, connection to local produce & food products, including affordable and free options made daily in Meiser's own fresh deli.
It is building a systems based solution to lack of community control over food access. We combat not only the problem of food inequity, but the systems which create it. Join our fight for racial and class equity.
WHY NOW:
After post-COVID era cuts to food benefit programs like SNAP this year, the meal gap for vulnerable families has grown exponentially.
Free food programs like Meiser's Green Giveaways (available 6 days a week) and our weekly Cooking Club have seen a growth in free food distribution from 6,000 meals worth of servings distributed in 2022 up to 24,000 meals worth of free food in 2023 so far.
To meet the needs of neighbors, we need you to help keep our free fridges and shelves stocked so families can feed themselves with dignity as our initiative continues to expand for the better.
Join our Community Giving Circle
Give a gift of food empowerment that never runs out. Help nourish our Your Store of the Queen City food sovereignty community, building hyper-local food economies and sovereignty through community-led interventions to the hunger and health impacts caused by food apartheid and food deserts.
You will be part of a community of neighbors, volunteers, shoppers, donors, researchers and partners who together use data-based quality improvement methodology to co-develop and operate ethical food enterprises, grow local food businesses, and implement programs that feed each other daily. We won't stop until everyone, everywhere has control over their food future.
Donate today to join Your Store of the Queen City and the Lower Price Hill family of neighbors helping neighbors.
Meet some members of the Meiser's Fresh Grocery & Deli Community:
Jazzy H., Volunteer on Meiser's Junior Dream Team
"I like volunteering because of the people and the work teachings they are showing me for my future job.
By Little Jaz"
Lisa W., Meiser's Grocery Co-Manager
"I love working at Meiser's because we are not just a team we are family."
TOGETHER WE ARE GROWING THE FOOD REVOLUTION:
Your Store of the Queen City has the honor of sharing its innovative community-based strategies with the following:
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Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council equity advisor role 2023
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Institute for Healthcare Improvement Forum presenter 2023
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Ohio Food Policy Network presenter 2023
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Ohio Community Development Corporation annual conference presenter 2022
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Children's Hospital Systems to Achieve Food Equity learning network participant & grantee 2021-2023
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City of Cincinnati Neighborhood Health Committee presenter 2023
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Cincinnati Neighborhood Summit by Invest in Neighborhoods presenter 2023
Give with confidence.
Learn more about our standards for transparency and some of our supporters...
THANK YOU TO THESE MAJOR SUPPORTERS!
Investments by these groups, foundations and corporate partners nourish the ideals of a reality based in sharing our strengths for continuous quality improvement and human dignity.
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