Help! One of our valuable community resources is endangered. Terra Organica, the grocery store within the Bellingham Public Market at Cornwall and east Champion, is on the verge of bankruptcy. This will force the closure of the entire Public Market with a loss of at least 60 local jobs, and pose a significant risk to local organic farmers and bakers who supply the store. In a retail world I believe dominated by corporate greed and indifference to consumer health, Terra Organica's owners are passionate about providing us with genuinely healthy and untainted food.

Moreover, the Bellingham Public Market is so much more than a grocery store. It is a gathering place for the entire community. Many activist groups, families, seniors, kids and unique individuals consider it a second home. As a setting for formal and informal community interaction, its loss would be incalculable.

The next several months are crucial. Join me in pledging to do all or most of your grocery shopping at Terra Organica during this period. Such action could spell the difference between survival and demise.

Warren Sheay

Bellingham