Persuasive Memo to Good Eats Store Managers:

Background:

Good Eats is a chain of organic food stores with locations in Ottawa. The stores are big and well-lit, like their more traditional grocery store counterparts. They are also teeming with various attractively displayed foods and related products.

However, Good Eats is different from the average supermarket. Its products include everything from granola sold in bulk to environmentally sensitive household products. The meats sold come from animals that were never fed antibiotics, and the cheese is from cows said to be raised on small farms and treated humanely.

Along with selling these products to upscale shoppers, the company has been giving food to homeless shelters. Every third weekend, Good Eats donates nonperishable food to three soup kitchens downtown. Company executives believe they are in a unique position to help others.

You work for the chief operating officer of Good Eats. You've been asked to find ways to expand the donation pro- gram by involving the company's eight branches, most of which are in the suburbs. Ideally, the company would be able to increase the number of people it helps and get more of its employees involved.

You don't have much extra money for the program, so the emphasis must be on using resources already available to the stores. One idea is to use trucks from suburban branches to make the program mobile. Another idea is to join forces with a retail chain to give food and clothing to individuals. The key is to be original and not exclude any idea, no matter how absurd it might seem. The only stipulation is to keep ideas politically neutral. Good Eats executives do not want to be seen as supporting any party or candidate. They just want to be good corporate citizens.

Your Task:

Send persuasive memos to all managers at Good Eats requesting ideas to expand the program. Invite employees to contribute ideas, for this or any other charitable project for the company.

The word limit is 250 to 300 words.