Cultivate Hope Corner Store — Local services in Cedar Rapids

This is a new store and it had its grand opening and block party yesterday. My son said that he wanted to go and I thought that would be a good idea and so we both went. It's a great place.

We went first into the store and saw one of the volunteers there. She explained that this is a non-profit store. Its intention is to provide lower-cost food for people directly in this area.

The fact that they only charge for the cost and not for their own profit helps with that. They need to make up for that with volunteerism and donations.

One of the things you can do is at the register donate up to the nearest dollar. She also said that money goes to pay for food from their own stock and it goes into a free food refrigerator pantry.

I was impressed with the quantity and quality of food for sale. They had good beers and I sampled their wines outside the store. Very good. I think some of their food vegetables and so on are from their own locally grown Matthew 25 Garden. They also have things like Amana bread.

One of the neat things is they have free coffee everyday and they have a place on the south side of the store near window that you can sit and drink coffee. They have a little microwave so that you can buy a quick snack and heat it up & drink it with your coffee by the window. That sounds cool and I look forward to biking there with my wife and having coffee...

The quality and price of the produce matched or exceeded my expectations. I also appreciated how efficient the store is - lots of locally sourced products, a wi-fi area, fresh produce and some prepared things (pastries, bread, pasta meal kits, chicken), and efforts to support local community needs. This is exactly what we need in a local grocer, and I'm excited to make Cultivate Hope part of my regular route.

Personally, I like how small the store is - parking on the south side of the building and being able to quickly grab things in a basket was less stressful than navigating crowds at HyVee, Walmart, Fareway, etc. - I got what I needed and didn't get distracted with "side...

This place has the absolute best meat, hands down, that you will find in Cedar Rapids at the price points offered. Literally after eating their NY Strip, I passed out in a food coma until 4 AM on my couch. The produce is so fresh, and everything is so affordable! The food is healthy. Honestly it reminds me of New Pioneer but not outrageously expensive and with helpful and nice employees. Oh! They have roasted chickens! They are delicious and cheap - and they offer call-ahead for pickup. Love this place, shop here 2-3 times a week!!! Positive impact on...