BUFFALO, N.Y. — Since 2016, the African Heritage Food Co-op has been bringing fresh and healthy options to the East Side of Buffalo.

"We started out 30 families and $900 and we've served over 30,000 folks between our pickups and our mobile market within not even two years," said founder Alexander Wright.

Through the co-op, members or non-members can get local and seasonal produce for as little as $15 a month. The boxes can be delivered or picked up at one of their many mobile markets, all within walking distance for people living on the East Side. Wright is thrilled with the success so far, but wants to see it grow even more.

"The goal is to build a brick and mortar store. So right now we're trying to do a major initiative to build this store, where we can hire folks within walking distance and we want this store to be in East Buffalo," he said. "We need to increase our core membership, to get people who are not just members and money but members and time."

He believes a permanent location could create a ripple effect within the neighborhood.

"We want to give people this spirit of ownership, first in this small microcosm of owning this business but then we want people to look from there and say, ‘well let me own my own house.’ When you own your house, you care about what your neighbors are doing, you care about litter, you care about trash because it's yours,” said Wright.

And the money made from the co-op could go right back into the community from the patronage dividends.

"A person is supposed to get $80 and there's 1,000 of us, and we're all supposed to get $80 back, and we say, ‘well we don't want it, keep it and let's invest it in something in the community.’ It's bigger than just foods and fruits and vegetables, it's really about changing the economics of our society, the dynamics of our society,” said Wright.