Gratitude! Our mom taught us that expressing gratitude is one of the most important things you can do every day. It keeps the fear and anxiety monsters away. It brightens someone else’s day and usually yours too. And it just makes the world a better place to live in. When Margaret (that is what we all called her because our parents wanted us to call them by their first names) and Philip (our father) founded Natural Grocers (Vitamin Cottage was the name she chose because they opened their first store in a cottage in Lakewood, Colorado) in 1955, there were many things they were grateful for – each other, their young children and growing family, living in beautiful Colorado, the kindness of friends and neighbors and her mom for lending them the money to start the business. Most especially, she was grateful for finding the knowledge that helped her recover from a chronic illness. Our parents wanted to share their gratitude with the world and help others learn about how to take care of their health and improve their wellbeing, so they founded Vitamin Cottage—Natural Grocers. When the business grew and they were able to hire their first Crew members, they were filled with gratitude. Margaret conveyed it to us this way: she was thankful that other people saw something in her business idea that motivated them to come and work with her and help others to thrive. And, she was grateful that she got to work with such amazing people and share life’s blessed moments with them. As her children and grandchildren, we couldn’t agree with her more. We are lucky to have such wonderful people bring their talents to Natural Grocers and help our friends, neighbors, and loved ones thrive. This is one of the reasons we provide our good4u Crew with Birthday Bonus pay -- it is one of the ways we say “thank you” to our Crew, honor our mother’s legacy and let our Crew know that we are blessed to be able to share life’s moments with them.

So, you may be wondering what all of this has to do with the current Coronavirus pandemic. We have been thinking about gratitude a lot since the pandemic started. Thinking about how we can share what Margaret taught us about it. Thinking about how we can share it and find the words to express how important gratitude is in times of worry and trouble. And how, if we focus on it a bit more during this confusing time, if we express gratitude a bit more often and feel it more often, then maybe, just maybe it might just help keep the fear and anxiety monsters at bay.

We are grateful that our parents founded this company, so that we grew up learning about how to support health and wellness. We are grateful that we can pass this knowledge on to our Crew and share it with our communities. We are grateful that we are part of an essential business that provides healthy food, supplements and essential household items. We are grateful that our family has always kept our commitment to provide these quality products at always affordable prices. We are grateful that our family is committed to the people who bring their talents to Natural Grocers by working every day to come up with another way to support our Crew and keep them as safe as possible. Our favorite one right now is Wellness Wednesdays. This is where we come together at every store and provide an additional free wellness supplement with the Crew (we are currently providing Vitamin C to all Crew, at their discretion, every day). We call them Wellness Shots, and we get to see the pictures from around the company of Crew taking their vitamins and enjoying it! This makes us very happy. But most of all we are grateful for our heroes in aprons and face masks who keep the stores running every day. Their dedication is amazing and their caring is out of this world wonderful!

We are grateful for all the kind words of thanks that our community has shared with us and which we are sharing with them and with you, because the more we pass it on, the more there is to pass on.

We hope that you are all eating healthy, taking your vitamins and finding gratitude to fill your hearts and keep the fear and anxiety monsters away.

Our hearts go out to anyone who has lost a loved one to COVID-19.

And just in case we have not used gratitude enough in this letter…

With gratitude,

The Isely Family