Want to do good in our communities?  Visit our stores in Whatcom and Skagit Counties now through July 15 and submit your best ideas on how to improve your community.

The Pepsi Refresh Project, sponsored by Pepsi distributor Walton Beverage, has partnered with the Whatcom Community Foundation to give away $26,000 to local nonprofit organizations in our communities. 

Grant ideas on how to improve local nonprofit programs that involve education, heatlh, the arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet and neighborhoods can be submitted at any Market, Cost Cutter or Food Pavilion store.

Grant requests must be printed out on the Walton Beverage website form (www.waltonbeverage.com) and returned to any Market store before July 15.  There are boxes at each location to submit grant applications.  Four winning entries will receive grant money for a qualified charity in Whatcom or Skagit counties:  $10,000 for first prize, $6,000 for second, $4,000 for third and $2,000 for fourth.

From August 1 through September 6, customers are invited to vote for their favorite grant application.  All applications that quality will be listed at the Walton Beverage website for easy voting.  Winners will be announced on September 13, determined by votes on the website.

In addition, there are forms at each store at the Pepsi display for cusotmes to submit an entry for a $250 doantion to be made to the charity of their choice.  Each Friday through September 6, two nonprofit groups are randomly drawn by Cascade Radio Group from all the boxes to win the $250 donations:  one from each county each week.  A total of eight $250 donations will be made during this promotion.

Visit www.whatcomcf.org  for more information.  Thanks to our generous partners, Walton Beverage. Cascade Radio Group (for promoting this great giveaway) and the Whatcom Community Foundation.

A very big thanks to all of you who came out to The Market at Fairhaven last Saturday, May 29.  Our fundraiser to help little Olivia Cook, a six-year-old battling kidney disease, raised $10,374!

The Market at Fairhaven donated all proceeds from our new Real American BBQ on Saturday to Olivia Cook's foundation, which will help with kidney transplant-related expenses.  Our generous customers not only bought $6,674 worth of MarketQ food --- Carolina pulled pork, Texas brisket and more --- but reached deep and donated an additional $3,700!  Olivia's kidney donor, Danica Kilander, was on hand to thank the hundreds who stood in long lines in cold, wet weather to buy the best BBQ in town and help a friendly, lively little girl.  Thanks to all the store team at The Market, the many volunteers and everyone who donated or helped us spread the word.  You made a big difference!

To read more about Olivia's story and fundraising opportunities, visit COTAfor OliviaRC.com 

MarketQ will be open all summer long, Fridays through Sundays, at The Market at Fairhaven, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Prosser Food Depot stepped up to the challenge of this year's American Cancer Society Relay for Life.

The store donated a gift card to the Relay, which took place this month.  Team members held a hot dog sale, along with other fundraising activities.  A total of $450 was raised for the Cancer Society's premier event, which celebrates cancer survivors, those fighting cancer, and those who have died from the disease.

Like many of our stores, Prosser has been supporting this cause for several years, and we're proud to contribute once more.

On Saturday, May 29 at The Market at Fairhaven, a very special event will take place.

The store, introducing its new 18-foot pit barbecue, aka The Texas Beast", will be donating 100% of its sales that day to Olivia Cook.

Olivia is the six-year-old child in Whatcom County who will receive a new kidney, and needs help with transplant-related expenses. 

How can you help?  Eat our Real American BBQ at The Market, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 29, only at Fairhaven.  You can savor the smokey flavor of Carolina Pulled Pork, Texas Brisket, KC Spareribs, all the traditional sides and even sweet tea.

Olivia's supporters will be there, with t-shirts, a song written especially for Olivia to download and information about her partnership with the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA), a national nonprofit that helps juvenile patients who require lifesaving transplants. 

Check out the website:  www.COTAforOliviaRC.com to learn more: come to The Market at Fairhaven, enjoy a tasty lunch or dinner, and know you are helping someone who really needs a hand.

We are proud to donate all proceeds from Saturday's sales to Olivia.  Our MarketQ barbecue offerings will be going on all summer, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, only in our Fairhaven store.

The Markets in Whatcom County joined the YWCA's Stand Against Racism ton Friday, April 30.

The Stand is a program by YWCAs nationwide to eliminate racism by raising awareness through this event.  As a participant, The Markets have signed on along with thousands of other businesses and organizations, each sharing a vision of a nation free of racism and discrimination.

Although our stand is not open to public participation, we are joining other citizens in this important effort.  For more information on the program, and many suggestions for how you and your family can raise awareness (as simple as reading books about other ethnic groups or speaking up when someone makes a racist remark), go to www.StandAgainstRacism.org 

On Thursday, April 22, The Market at Anacortes will offer double the bag rebate:  ten cents rather than five cents, in recognition of Earth Day.  This one-day-only offer will be especially poignant to our customers, since we are dedicating all our bag rebate donations through May 15 to the Tesoro Incident Family Fund. 

Following the explosion at the Tesoro Refinery in Anacortes and the deaths of six employees, The Market has been receiving generous donations from community members towards the Family Fund which has been established.  The Market also will be donating food for an upcoming fundraiser.

Thanks to all of you who contribute your nickels from our bag rebate program:  it has made a big difference to our recipient, Skagitonians to Preserve Farmlands. (The bag rebate program returns a nickel to customers for each bag he/she brings shopping.  The nickel can be deducted from the total grocery bill at checkout or paid forward to a local environmental group, such as Skagitonians.)

Barbecue Cookoffs Are Coming This Summer!

If you love barbecue --- smoky, tangy ribs, spicy pulled pork, sizzling juicy chicken --- you will want to mark your calendar for not one, not two, but three barbecue cookoffs sponsored by The Markets this summer!

The live barbecue cookoff competitions feature over 20 teams, chasing big prize money and the golden opportunity to compete on a national stage.  These two-day events create fabulous smells and even more fabulous food for you to sample.  Is there a better way to spend a sunny summer afternoon?

The first is the return of  the Skagit Valley BBQ Championship, which will be held at the Sedro Woolley Food Pavilion on June 19-20.  Last year was the first, and it was a resounding success.

The next is the second time around for BBQ on the Border, at The Market at Birch Bay on July 17-18.  The third is a brand new event , The Markets Cookoff, hosted by Sunset Cost Cutter on August 7-8.

If you can't get enough barbecue, join us at The Market at Fairhaven for a BBQ Pitmaster Class on May 22.  This 12-hour event, with instructors from Dances with Smoke and Raven's Fyre BBQ, will give you ample info on all aspects of barbecue.  Attendees will prepare four competition meats for judging, too.  Cost to attend is $150 and includes all meat, rub materials and wood for the pit.  Contact Tom Wallin at tkwallin@comcast.net for more details. 

If you have a team ready to compete in any of the three events listed above, sign up at the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association's website: www.pnwba.com 

If you're just a person who loves barbecue or just a person who loves good food in a friendly setting, mark your calendars to join us!  Cook on!

On April 23, Wear Jeans for a Reason

The Markets' nine Whatcom County stores will again support Denim Day on Friday, April 23.

Denim Day is a way to show support for ending sexual violence.  Sponsored by the Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services, people are encouraged to wear jeans that day.

Why denim?  In 1999, the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wearing jeans.  The Justices stated that since removing jeans "is impossible if the victim is struggling", she must have assisted the attacker in taking them off, which they felt implied consent.

So we're wearing jeans for a reason...how about joining us?

American Cancer Society's Community Fundraiser Underway

Relay for Life is a community gathering where everyone can participate in the fight against cancer.  Teams of people camp out and take turns walking or running around a track.  Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event, because cancer never sleeps. 

We will again sponsor several Relay teams in our communities where we have stores.  This 24-hour event is much more than an event:  it's a commitment to raise awareness of cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and patient support.  Relay raises money to help prevent cancer, save lives and diminish the suffering from this dread disease.

Our Markets-sponsored teams will have bake sales, golf tournaments, sell t-shirts, used books and videos and much more to raise money for Relay.  In addition, where we have teams of employees, friends and families, we will also provide in-kind sponsorship through a generous food donation.

Our teams are forming at Arlington Food Pavilion, Moses Lake Food Pavilion, Sedro Woolley/Mt. Vernon Food Pavilion, Lynden Food Pavilion and Whatcom County stores (Cost Cutter, Market at Birch Bay/Fairhaven).  All our stores will sell sun and moon decals for $1.

Our teams will also make available luminarias, These light the way under the stars to remember those lost to cancer, those fighting cancer and those who have fought cancer and won.  The ceremony of light is one of the most moving parts of a very moving event.

Here are the Relay dates in communities in which we have stores:

• Wenatchee Food Pavilion (May 14-15)
• Prosser Food Depot (May 15-16)
• Everett Cost Cutter (May 22-23)
• Moses Lake Food Pavilion (June 4-5)
• Arlington Food Pavilion (June 4-5)
• Wapato Intl. Market (June 5-6)
• Sedro Woolley/Mt. Vernon Food Pavilion (June 5-6)
• The Market at Anacortes (June 18-19)
• Lynden Food Pavilion (June 25-26)
• Cost Cutter/The Market at Birch Bay/Fairhaven (July 9-10)
• Selah $ave-On-Food$ (August 7-8)

Join us, and many others in your community, and take a lap with us at your local Relay for Life.  You will see friends and neighbors, your local businesses and their employees, taking a stand against cancer and making a difference. 

Our amazing customers and amazing front end team at our stores really made an impact with this year's Muscular Dystrophy Association Shamrocks Against Dystrophy promotion.

We raised $12,391 over four weeks!  This donation will pay for 15-plus kids with one of the muscular dystrophy diseases to attend a free one-week summer camp at Lake Stevens, WA.  This camp allows kids with limited mobility the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of camp activities without barriers.  Our shamrock top-selling checkers will have the opportunity to attend VIP day at camp in August and also appear on the Labor Day telethon.

We appreciate your generosity and your partnership with us again this year.  Over the past ten years, our company has raised over $100,000 for MDA, and most important, the young people afflicted with the various dystrophies.