The Positive Change program raises money for local non-profit organizations working to better our community. We believe in the power of change and the power of community – Positive Change combines these two beliefs into one powerful program. The Positive Change program is one of the many ways the Co-op fulfills the seventh cooperative principle: Concern for Community.
Next time you check out, say “I’d like to round-up for Positive Change,” and we’ll round-up the total of your purchase to the nearest dollar, or you can donate any desired amount. Each month, the selected non-profit organization receives 100% of the donated funds, plus an additional mini grant from the Co-op (currently $400 each month). Annually, the Board of Directors selects one Positive Change recipient to receive an additional grant from our Cooperative Community Fund. Thank you for contributing to positive change and making a difference in our community!
Stream Smart
Help Stream Smart plant trees, maintain pollinator gardens, hold Salmon Watch field trips, and build trails along the Greenway and Rogue River!
Stream Smart is an educational campaign that promotes increased awareness of everyday choices and how those choices may impact our local streams and rivers. Simple habit or behavior changes can help protect and improve water quality and overall watershed health. Stream Smart empowers everyone to do their part to turn our streams from brown to blue – change starts with you!
Stream Smart: A Rogue Basin Clean Water Project supports the community by providing education and opportunities to get involved to help protect and improve our streams and rivers. Protective actions support aquatic life and wildlife, recreation, clean water, and the scenic beauty of our region. They provide community members and schools with the knowledge, tools, technical assistance, training, hands-on experience, and examples of ways to help protect or improve water quality conditions and stream health on a larger scale and how you can help at home, school, or work. Stream Smart staff members attend regional events, restoring streams and rivers through invasive plant removal and planting native trees and shrubs, and monitoring water quality conditions in local waterways.
Positive Change funds will support the purchase of materials and supplies for streamside restoration and clean-up events with volunteers, as well as for water quality monitoring efforts. The funds will allow us to support more volunteers and community events by providing better tools, more native plants, including pollinator species, up-to-date monitoring equipment, and general resources like snacks, gloves, safety vests, mulch, etc.
Stream Smart is a community resource that is currently coordinated by and housed at the Rogue Valley Council of Governments’ (RVCOG) Natural Resources Department. The collaborative represents the local communities of Ashland, Central Point, Eagle Point, Grants Pass, Jacksonville, Medford, Phoenix, and Talent; Jackson and Josephine counties; education groups; non-governmental organizations (NGOs); watershed councils; agencies; and interested community members. Programs that are offered throughout the year which would be supported by the Positive Change funding include the Rogue Basin Salmon Watch program, the Bear Creek and Rogue River Clean-Ups, and Adopt-A-Greenway and Adopt-A-River efforts.
We turn spare change into Positive Change for local non-profits.
The Positive Change program is for organizations seeking direct financial support. Positive Change recipients for 2025 were selected by our owners in the 2024 Annual Election, and the application period for the 2026 program concluded on January 31st. If your organization would like to be notified when the 2027 application is made available in autumn of 2025, please let us know.
If you are seeking a food or gift card donation, please complete our Donation Request Form.
Spare change really adds up.
A few cents here and there add up to big impacts for our local non-profits.