Tag Archives: community

Lend a Helping Hoof: The Haven


As we mentioned in our last blog post about the Pb &J Fund's Holiday Giving Program, our team here at Relay is committed to enriching the communities we live and work in. In light of this commitment, we've started a new program called Helping Hoof. By donating food and creating an easy-to-use channel for our customers to also donate, it provides a new way to support the local, charitable organizations our customers know and love. Helping Hoof also decreases the amount of food waste produced in our communities by donating goods that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Where other grocery stores see waste, we see an opportunity to give back. Our mission is to make eating quality, Read more …

Meet Our Vendors: Carpe Donut


There's not much to see behind the scenes at Carpe Donut's small kitchen and storefront in Charlottesville, and that's by design. When he decided in 2007 to open a food-based business, Carpe Donut Founder Matt Rohdie started by examining the decisions he makes when compiling a grocery list or choosing what to cook for his family. The vision for the business, he decided, should embody the same values he uses to cook at home. He developed a few basic criteria: use simple tools so the family could do the labor themselves, use real, local and/or organic ingredients and cook them from scratch, make a startlingly delicious product. Having a background in restaurant management and Read more …

Community Feature: Kate Bennis of Redbud Gifts


Here at Relay, we're constantly amazed by the creativity and resourcefulness represented in a town the size of Charlottesville -- indeed, a big part of our mission is to unearth local foodie artisans and their treasures, then share them with our customers. So when we first heard about Redbud Gifts, a new local online gift store offering goodies and experiences from local artists, businesses, and families, we knew we'd found a kindred spirit. Redbud offers gift baskets from Relay, but honestly, we covet everything on the site, from cooking tutorials to the opportunity to donate to the City Schoolyard Garden. When we saw the collection of gifts and experiences that Kate has hand-selected, Read more …

Tidbits and Bites: News and Links for Friday, January 27


A few things we've been reading this week: Sounds like the C'ville's Green Scene needs to get on the bandwagon and start using Relay totes! Planning to make this kale-butternut (favorite winter veggies!) salad from Richmond Food Collective. A nice review of yours truly (Relay) from Richmondmom.com. Further confirmation that we should be eating locally-raised meat from farmers we trust! By this point, you probably already have 101Cookbooks on your feed reader, but this Miso Sesame Winter Squash bears highlighting. Apropos of nothing, this video is guaranteed to make you hungry for vegetables. A Congressional Research Service report with great news we already know -- local Read more …

Meet our Vendors: Pizza Tonight


Before giving Victoria Deroche's pizza kit a try, your blogging correspondent was a bit skeptical. I've made my own homemade pizza, making the dough, sauce, and toppings, on a number of occasions, and I didn't see how having someone else make the dough and sauce could possibly produce better results.  My only memory of pre-made pizzas and sauces were of those doughy Boboli frisbees with overwhelming sauce that we made at elementary school sleepovers. When I arrived home on a Friday night at 8 PM, my friend and I pulled out the pizza kit, followed Victoria's instructions for stretching the dough thin (do not knead!), topped it with a fair helping of Victoria's sauce, then steamed broccoli, Read more …