Just in time for the holidays if you sign up by Friday, Dec. 2 you can give and receive in your community by joining the Community Food Co-op of Utah.---

For those who want to become closer to their community, the Crossroad-Urban Center’s Community Food Co-op of Utah is a great program to help and be helped at the same time. By joining the co-op, you pick a team site in your neighborhood. Team sites are places where food is picked up and distributed, and sites include churches and community centers across the Wasatch Front from Clearfield to Salt Lake City and even down into Provo and Lehi.

After sign-up, you place an order for groceries to be picked up at your team site 15 days after the order deadline. For your first time ordering, a voluntary donation is required—remember, donations keep the co-op operational. There is another fee to participate and that requires a karma commitment. Each participant volunteers two hours either in their local community or for the co-op itself (exceptions can be made if participants have disabilities that might prohibit volunteering).

After you’ve given—you get! You just wait for the pickup time and grab some groceries from your team site.

Give and receive during this holiday season by taking part in the co-op, which is now accepting new members through online registration. But remember, the deadline to register for the December pickup is Friday, Dec. 2. Sign up and log in, and by Dec. 17 you will be ready to pick up your food order.

For more info, visit the co-op’s page here to learn more about the program and to find a team site near you.