Member
Worker Profile:
Sarah Rain
by Deborah Trupin
Sarah Rain and
her husband Dan joined
Honest Weight about three years ago because they wanted to eat more
healthily. Shortly
thereafter, Sarah became a weekly worker — and became more involved in
the
Honest Weight community.
Sarah’s first job was
working as an
assistant to then assistant finance manager Duke Bouchard, checking
invoices
and mailing checks. Sarah said that her former work in social science
research included
statistician duties, so she is “familiar with numbers.” When the
current the
assistant finance manager, Jennifer Feitte, recently went on maternity
leave,
Sarah became a staff member working 20 hours per week to fill
Jennifer’s
position. She expects to continue as a staffer until Jennifer’s return
this
summer, and then return to weekly worker duties.
Sarah and her family
became members
shortly after they moved to the Capital District from Seattle. For
Sarah, it was a “return,” as she
is originally from Clifton
Park. Like
many other
families, the return was prompted by the desire to be closer to home
after the
birth of a child. The move to this area enabled both Sarah and her
husband Dan
(who now telecommutes to his Seattle
area job) to be with their children — son Cadao, 5, and daughter Alyra,
19
months. They live in the Four Corners
area of
Delmar, which they like because they can walk to almost everything. In
fact, one
of Sarah’s few car journeys is to Honest Weight!
Asked about her favorite
section of
Honest Weight, Sarah was quick to mention the bulk department, where
the family
buys all of their beans and grains, including 50-pound bags of flour
for their
daily breadmaking. Sarah sheepishly admitted to “cheating” and using a
bread
machine.
Working Together to Build
Communities
As for the non-material
aspects of
Honest Weight, Sarah feels that the most important part of Honest
Weight is its
communitybuilding spirit. Community building is an important part of
Sarah’s
life outside of Honest Weight, as well. With two children, Sarah spends
a lot
of time parenting. She and her family are active with Bethlehem
Neighbors for
Peace. With a group of friends, Sarah and Dan have also started a “work
circle”
— the group gathers monthly at a member’s home to work cooperatively on
the house.
In addition, Sarah has
started a
local chapter of Roots & Shoots, founded by Dr. Jane Goodall. The
program inspires
youth of all ages to make a difference by becoming involved in their
communities through service-learning projects (more info: www.rootsandshoots.org).
The
local chapter, which includes children up to age 8, has built
butterfly
houses and helped clear invasive species at the Five
Rivers Environmental
Education Center
in Bethlehem.
Thinking
about the future of Honest Weight, Sarah remarked on the need for more
space.
She suggested that a space somewhat more like a “typical” supermarket
might
attract shoppers who like what the Coop has to offer, but who find the
current store
unwieldy. She also recognized the challenge of maintaining Honest
Weight’s
community spirit as the store grows.
Back to index
|
CoopScoop Home
CoopScoop Archives
Behind the Scoop
Guidelines for Article
Submission
|
