The California FreshWorks Fund issued a press release today announcing a grant award of $25,000 to our venture.

This grant is important to us as it provides crucial funding in support of, as the press release notes, “a Direct Public Offering to raise at least $500,000 in equity for the market, and open the door to additional equity from larger investors, as well as debt sources.” In other words, the grant helps us move toward launching a creative grassroots community financing campaign that will expand our community outreach, strengthen our local relationships to Bay Area residents and leverage those relationships to generate more financial support for the creation of our grocery store.

This grant is also important because it further strengthens PCM’s relationship with the California FreshWorks Fund and its many partners such as NCB Capital Impact, the California Endowment and Kaiser Permanente. As as an innovative fund that aligns with our own company’s values of health, community, social equity and entrepreneurship, the California FreshWorks Fund and its affiliates are ideal financial partners that understand our mission and vision, as well as the kind of financing that a social enterprise needs. As we were told today by Catherine Howard, Senior Program Manager at NCB Capital Impact, “The point of all this, really, is to bring attention to…. efforts to bring fresh food to a neighborhood that really needs it and help improve people’s lives. We really appreciate having the opportunity to be a small part of your work.”

It’s also worth noting that this is the first grant that the California FreshWorks Fund has awarded. We’re grateful for their confidence and trust in our team and our plan and for choosing to invest in us. Thanks to the California FreshWorks Fund and its many partners for recognizing our efforts to bring full-service groceries and fresh foods to West Oakland and for working alongside of us to create better health and opportunity for our community.