Grants and Scholarships

The Co-op has thousands of dollars available to support awesome community projects and scholarships. We want to hear about your fabulous nonprofit, your community garden idea, your noble education ambitions, your funky, free-spirited, I’m-going-to-change-the-world optimism, or whatever it is you have in mind. We’re just itching to fund those crazy dreamers who want to make the world a better place. Read on.

Over twenty years ago, the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society’s Board of Directors set up a fund to support other cooperatives—the Hanover Cooperative Community Fund (HCCF). Over the years, HCCF has contributed over $500,000 toward an endowment, Twin Pines Cooperative Foundation, which assists cooperatives all over the country.

Funds are raised through product sales, member and vendor contributions, and events like our 2023 Annual Golf Tournament. Each year the interest earned on the fund is returned to the Co-op for local distribution. This was where the HCCF Community Project Grant and Gerstenberger Scholarship were born.

The HCCF Selection Committee, consisting of Co-op employees across locations, reviewed the 2023 applications carefully and made hard decisions on how to allocate this year’s interest of $10,000. Using new criteria to align with the Board’s recently stated values and a specific focus on climate action and/or local food systems, the following selections were made.

• Sustainable Lebanon: Mesh Bag Mamas Reusable Mesh Produce Bags – $1,000
• Hanover Conservancy: Protecting the Adams Farm – $1,500
• Hartford Norwich Holiday Basket Helpers: Food Gift Cards for Local Families
  & Seniors – $1,500
• Hanover Community Food Pantry: Local Access to Healthy Food – $1,000
• Claremont Soup Kitchen: Soup Kitchen & Food Pantry – $1,000
• NH Queer Farmer Network: Queer Farmer Winter Retreat – $1,000
• COVER Home Repair: Weatherization Projects – $1,000
• Kearsarge Food Hub: Market Gardener Masterclass at Sweet Beet Farm – $1,000

The Gerstenberger Scholarship Fund (GSF) offers scholarships to members and employees of cooperatives in the Upper Valley who seek to further the cooperative movement through education, training, and/or business development.

The Fund is named in honor of the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society’s long-serving General Managers, Harry and Arthur Gerstenberger, and first Education Director, Sally Gerstenberger.

This years winner was Vital Communities – Leadership Upper Valley Program – $1,000

Congratulations to all of our recipients, and thank you to everyone who’s been a part of this process. From our local non-profits, our valued vendors and shoppers, and our own Co-op employees, we’ve had another successful year. Your contributions really do make a difference.