Co-op News June 1978 PDF
CDC ISSUES
For those who have been unable to attend any of the Wednesday evening get-togethers down at Radiance, here is a brief sketch of what the Olympic CDC has been up to:
Since the benefit held April 16, at which we earned approximately $75 by donations and food sales, we have been meeting weekly to share our energies, drawing up preliminary by-laws for a community Credit Union and discussing information gathered throughout the week. Issues such as “What are the conditions of membership going to be?”, “How will the Board of Directors be comprised?” and “How will existing community service groups be able to work within the CDC organization?” are being discussed, and each week we make a certain amount of progress towards the first draft of by-laws.
A good deal of outreach work has been going on also – getting in touch with groups like the Community for Christian Celebration, which is attempting to organize extended families in Olympia/Thurston County; the Crisis Clinic, which so far has acted to get people in touch with people and groups of similar interest (something we hope to do as one of our major functions); and the Women’s Health Center. These groups have expressed encouragement and brought new ideas of how to go about the work we have set out to do.
Our feeling is that as we grow and learn with each other about the directions we share as individuals living in a community, bonds of cooperative, neighborly assistance can develop and that we all have a great deal to gain by walking/working together in this manner.
The original project of organizing a community credit union is already well underway, and each week we discuss new ideas and connections in other areas of community development, all of which leads to the birth of a group of folks, working together to facilitate alternatives and cooperative and working systems such as a hardware store, alternative school, musicians guild, retreat center, clothing exchange, skills bank, transportation collective, and any other needs which are brought out during meetings which can be developed by ourselves through working with one another to make it happen.
As the Beatles have sung, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” Whatever good energy you can share with the CDC will be amply rewarding. Come to one of the meetings when you are interested and want to share with us in community. Every Wednesday evening at 7:00 or slightly thereafter, Radiance Herbs and Massage, Fourth Avenue, Olympia.
