EVERYONE can shop!
Store Hours: 8 am-9 pm, Daily
Closed: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day
Carbondale
Chamber of Commerce
2024
Business of the Year!
Community
Help build your community
The Co-op holds all kinds of charitable events throughout the year. Big or small, local or national, we feel it is important to support organizations that match values of community, health, sustainability, and the environment.
Locally, we support smaller organizations that have a regional impact through our Wooden Nickels program. Shoppers receive a Wooden Nickel for every bag-able purchase when they bring their own bag to take it home in. They can then donate that Wooden Nickel to one of two nonprofits. These nonprofits are chosen quarterly from suggestions made by staff, customers, owners, and community members.
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To apply for our Wooden Nickel program please fill out our Wooden Nickel Application Form.
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Other community donations: If you would like support for an event you have coming up, please let us know. Our resources are limited, but we will provide what we can. Fill out our online Donation Request Form.
Our Donations Policy
Organizations must be a registered 501(c)3 Not-for-Profit; must be nonpartisan (not affiliated with or promoting any political issue, party, or candidate); cannot discriminate on the basis of race, creed, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or physical disability; should benefit Southern Illinois communities and their citizens; are fundraising for programs that are not intended to advance a particular religious belief; and are fundraising for programs that meet all of the above criteria.
For any purchase requiring a bag, when you bring your own reusable bag, you will receive a wooden nickel per transaction to donate to one of two regional charities that change each quarter. You decide which organization to donate to. (Wooden Nickel donations are capped at $250 per organization. However, all cash donations will be given to the organization in addition to the Wooden Nickel contribution.)
2nd Quarter Recipients: April - June 2026
Wooden Nickels
Gum Drops Kids
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Gum Drops, NFP provides a weekend backpack of child-friendly food to help enhance the quality of life for at-risk children throughout Southern Illinois. This program help remove barriers to academic success for these at-risk children. Hunger does not discriminate. It can affect any child, even those you would least expect.
Gum Drops began in January 2008 with serving 12 at-risk children. Currently, we are feeding approximately 1650 at-risk children every week in three counties with about 43 schools.
We hope we are making a wonderful impact on the children as well as their families. Hopefully easing some of the stress for the family trying to make ends meet as well as stress for the at-risk children in their school environment. Hopefully making them feel equal to classmates
We hope we can keep this program going for years. There are many challenges making that possible.
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Rainbow Cafe
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Rainbow Cafe has served the queer community in Southern Illinois for over 25 years, providing a safe and welcoming environment for those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans/gender expansive, queer, intersex, asexual, or questioning their orientation and/or gender identity, and their friends and family, by creating a space in which they are affirmed and offered non-judgmental support and access to personal, community, spiritual, and health resources.
We actualize our mission by opening our doors every week to a variety of programs, such as Drop-In, Transformations, Safe TEA, Elevate, Poly, and more, as well as hosting community events like Trans Resource Fairs, Pride Prom, and our annual HoliGAY Party to provide the LGBTQIA+ community of Southern Illinois spaces to create affirming community. Rainbow Cafe is also committed to partnerships and relationships across the region to provide access for other needs, like Equality Illinois, the Community Action Place, inc., the Center for Empowerment and Justice, Jackson County Health Department, and CHOICES to provide STD and HIV testing/care, reproductive care, advocacy, and other resources.
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