LOCAL DONATIONS & SPONSORSHIPS
We are dedicated to encouraging our customers and members to live a healthier, more natural life and strive to support the health and well-being of our communities.
When you shop at Community Natural Foods you can access a variety of health expertise through our passionate and knowledgeable staff, as well as through our many educational speakers that present at our free-to-attend public lecture series, in person and online. You can access many fantastic in-store specials on a large variety of quality products that are natural, organic, and sustainable in nature.
You’ll benefit from the many great relationships we have spent time cultivating from community partners to relationships with local vendors, farmers, and producers.
We Deeply Value Giving Back
Annually Community Natural Food provides in-kind and financial support to a variety of local grassroots events and non-profit organizations. If you are interested in learning how your organization can access like-minded sponsorships and/or donations, please visit your local Community Natural Foods location.
We are proud to sponsor some significant events in Calgary, including Stage 6 at the Calgary Folk Music Festival, VegFest, Best of Calgary, Feeding the 5000, Zero Waste Festival, the Calgary International Film Festival, Neurotrition Conference, REAP Food for Thought event, and the Holistic Nutrition Conference.
In-Store Donations: We support local organizations that support food access for all Calgarians.
Local Community Giving
You can feel good while you shop, by helping local charities while simultaneously doing something good for the planet, by bringing in your own bags and containers during your shop and participating in our Change for the Earth program.
Change for the Earth:
Community Natural Foods kicked off the Change for the Earth Program on Earth Day 2012. We updated the program in 2019 to include all bags and containers, calling it #BYOC. Customers now receive a 2-cent credit for every bag and container they fill during their shop, to donate to our local charity of the month, representing PEOPLE, COMMUNITY, AND PLANET organizations. Community Natural Foods matches all funds raised, essentially making that 2-cent credit 4 cents. We’ve donated close to $220,00 to date and supported over 300 grassroots charities.
Below are a few of the organizations that have been featured over recent years through our Change for The Earth program:
People Groups:
The Alex Community Food Centre, Calgary Food Bank, Alpha House, Heart Beats, Women in Need Society, Elizabeth Fry Society, The Skipping Stone Foundation, Potential Place, Youth Singers of Calgary, The Mustard Seed, Chrysalis, Calgary Dream Centre, Calgary Progressive Lifestyles Foundation, Potential Place, Brown Bagging for Calgary Street Kids, I Can for Kids, Calgary Poppy Fund/Veteran Association Foodbank, The Kerby Centre, Calgary Educational Partnership Foundation, The Third Academy, Youth Inclusive Neighbourhoods, Canadian Women’s Foundation, Grit Calgary Society, Calgary Drop Inn Centre, High Banks Society, Discovery House, Cerebral Palsy Association, Women’s Centre of Calgary, and The Children’s Cottage.
Community Groups:
Calgary Humane Society, Calgary Distress Centre, Slow Food Calgary, Inn From The Cold, Adoption Options, Breakfast Clubs of Canada, Vibrant Communities Calgary, Global Eyesight Now, Calgary Outlink, YMCA of Calgary, Tri-Commitment, Habitat for Humanity Calgary, Pawsitive Match Foundation, Pet Access League, Calgary Meals on Wheels, Military Family Resource Centre, Calgary Interfaith Foodbank, Arusha Centre, Colour the Trails, Four Feet Companion Foundation, Making Changes, Umoja Community Mosaic, MEOW Foundation, Ferret Rescue & Education Society, Fur-Ever Homes Rescue, AARCS Foundation, Canadian Canine Search Corps, and Rasta .
Planet Groups:
Green Calgary, Plastic-Free YYC, REAP (Respect for the Earth and All People) Calgary, Sustainable Alberta, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Weaselhead Glenmore Park Preservation Society, Alberta Wilderness Association, Organic Alberta, The Evergreen Theatre, The Sierra Club – Chinook, Water Matters, Recycling Council of Alberta, The Pembina Institute, Grizzly Bear Alliance, Parks Foundation, Friends of Fish Creek Society, Calgary Horticultural Society, Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, Cows and Fish, and the Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Society.
In-Store Donations
We’re proud to continue supporting local organizations through various in-store initiatives. This has included $5 till donations for the Alex to help get fresh fruits and vegetables to Calgarians, Scan Away Homelessness to support the Mustard Seed, and perishable food donations to the Calgary Food Bank and Calgary Veterans Association Food Bank.
We also have proceeds going to various Calgary non-profits from sales from our monthly café feature beverages and our For the Love of the Earth enamel pins and Giving Toques. We also participate in Hot Chocolate Fest annually. Yum!
Throughout the year we collect donations to the Calgary Food Bank, and we work with Zero Waste YYC to redistribute food that is close to expiry.
We continue to support our LGBTQ2S+ community with a variety of donations being raised during pride week. We’ve partnered with our vendor community to offer proceeds from products sold to benefit the Skipping Stone Foundation in Calgary – with CNF matching all donations! And in 2019, we hosted our first-ever Drag Beauty Night with proceeds going to the Skipping Stone Foundation.
