A vision was recently realized. What was the vision and who was behind it? Read on.
The first nonprofit supermarket, named “Fare & Square,” opened in a “food desert” in Chester Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 28, 2013. Chester, a city of 34,000 where one in three people live in poverty, had been without a supermarket for twelve years.
If you’ve not heard about this, I refer you to various news articles and videos. See the citations below.
In this blog, though, I am interested in the vision that made this possible, and the man behind the vision.
The man is Bill Clark, executive director of Philabundance. Philabundance is the largest hunger relief organization in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. It was founded in 1984 by Pam Lawler as a food rescue organization and later taken over by Scott Schaffer who expanded the organization’s operations. Bill came in as executive director in 2001.
I can’t say for sure when the idea that has become Fare & Square first germinated, but various press stories have given credit to Bill for working on this for seven years. I can say this, however: it has not been an easy seven years.
Along the way Bill had to overcome every imaginable obstacle.
To secure funding Bill had to cobble together a hesitant coalition of government, foundation, and private support. He had to persuade his board that the plan was viable. He had to win the hearts and minds of his staff that worried that the organization was straying too far from its food rescue origins. The business model had to be developed. Consultants and experts of all types had to be consulted. A skeptical local community in Chester, who had seen too many promises in the past go bad, had to be wooed. And ultimately, an executive director willing to risk his job, career, and reputation was required.
Team efforts are needed for grand visions to succeed. In this case the team consisted of a strong board which gave the go-ahead, a highly motivated staff that did the work, funders who understood the potential, and a local community who appreciates the results.
At the center of all this was a man with a vision. Bill Clark.
Fare & Square is still brand new. The final chapters on this story have yet to be written. But two things are eminently clear:
(1) thousands of people in the city of Chester will benefit greatly, and;
(2) none of this would have happened without a man of vision, Bill Clark.
Comments welcome.
Eric Fraint, President and Founder
Your Part-Time Controller, LLC
For additional information about Fare & Square, I refer the reader to the following links:
The Philadelphia Inquirer – http://articles.philly.com/2013-09-30/news/42505117_1_ninth-and-trainer-streets-west-end-food-center-grocery-store
The New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/opinion/sunday/an-oasis-of-groceries.html?_r=0
A video on Billmoyers.com – http://billmoyers.com/content/an-oasis-in-a-food-desert/
Philabundance website – www.philabundance.org
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EricYPTC 