April is National Volunteer Month

METHUEN, Mass., April 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- America has a proud history of volunteerism dating back to the days of our founding fathers. In honor of all volunteers who give their time and service to make America a better place, April is deemed National Volunteer Month and encompasses National Volunteer Week that runs from April 15-21 this year.

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In celebration of the United Nation's 2012 "International Year of Cooperatives" and to honor those who volunteer their time, Cabot Creamery Cooperative created Reward Volunteers®, the nation's first mobile app and computer widget that allows volunteers to log hours, post to Facebook and win rewards for themselves and the organizations they serve.

"Our farmer-owners volunteer in their communities. It is as much a part of life as daily chores," said Neal Rea, Chairman of the Board of Agri-Mark, the northeast's premier dairy cooperative, and a Cambridge, N.Y. dairy farmer himself. "To honor the volunteer service and values of others, Cabot worked to develop this app to recognize all the communities where we sell products." 

The app is free and available on iTunes. It can be used on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and as a web-based program on RewardVolunteers.coop. To download the app, please visit iTunes. For more information about Reward Volunteers, please visit http://www.RewardVolunteers.coop.

Reward Volunteers is easy to use. Volunteers select the organization for which they are volunteering, log the length of time volunteered, and post their volunteer efforts on Facebook. They have the opportunity to win prizes for themselves and non-profit organizations by increasing their logged hours, sharing posts/photos, sending emails, and securing Facebook likes for their volunteer posts.

Cabot -- best known as makers of "The World's Best Cheddar"-- developed Reward Volunteers in collaboration with Chalo Inc, a social business start-up.

Launched on Valentine's Day, Reward Volunteers coincides with Cabot's Community Tour that promotes cooperatives and the cooperative business model, and honors local people who give their time and skills to strengthen their communities.  Kicking off in Miami on May 12th, the tour will include riders, walkers and bikers following the East Coast Greenway with events, speakers, family activities, food, live entertainment, cooking and cheese making demonstrations. The tour concludes in Portland, ME as part of a global finale to celebrate the U.N.'s International Year of the Cooperative, and to award grand prizes for the Reward Volunteers app.

Prizes are selected monthly and include a Burton Snowboard, Cabot Cheese gift baskets, Green Mountain Coffee gift baskets, and lift tickets from Ski Vermont.

Grand prizes will be awarded on July 7, 2012, the International Day of Cooperatives, and include an Alaskan cruise, Smuggler's Notch vacation and a Vermont farm vacation at Liberty Hill Farm Inn. Five individuals and five non-profits will be eligible to win $3,000 each. 

Partners in the Reward Volunteers project include:

All for Good

AARP's Create the Good

Marriott

Co+op, Stronger Together

ABOUT AGRI-MARK

Agri-Mark, with $900 million in 2011 sales, markets more than 300 million gallons of farm fresh milk each year for more than 1,250 dairy farm families in New England and New York. The cooperative is headquartered in Methuen, Mass., has been marketing milk for dairy farmers since 1913, and actively represents their legislative interests in the Northeast and in Washington, D.C.

Agri-Mark farmers own the award-winning Cabot brand of Vermont Cheddar, butter and other dairy products in addition to the McCadam brand of New York Cheddar, Pepper Jack and other cheeses. Cabot has won the award of World's Best Cheddar three times and McCadam recently won the award of America's Best Cheese. Agri-Mark has invested in operations to manufacture and market valuable whey proteins globally while also marketing fresh fluid milk from its local farm families to some of the region's leading dairy processors. For more information about Agri-Mark, visit our web site at: http://www.agrimark.net. 

ABOUT CABOT CREAMERY COOPERATIVE

Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919, and we make a full line of cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, and butter. Best known as makers of "The World's Best Cheddar," Cabot is owned by 1250 dairy farm families located throughout New England and upstate New York. For additional information on Cabot Creamery, visit http://www.cabotcheese.coop

ABOUT MCCADAM CHEESE

McCadam Cheese has been in continuous operation in the Empire State since its founding by William McCadam in 1876. Today, McCadam Cheese is the New York flagship brand of Agri-Mark, the Northeast's premier, farmer-owned, dairy cooperative. Agri-Mark and its farmers also own the Cabot brand of Vermont dairy products. For more information, visit www.mccadamcheese.com.

United Nations Declares 2012 "International Year of Cooperatives"

2012 was recognized by the UN as the International Year of Cooperatives.  As proud members of the cooperative community, Agri-Mark and its Cabot and McCadam brands support and promote the cooperative business model in recognition of the fact that cooperatives drive the economy, respond to social change, are resilient to global economic crisis and are serious, successful businesses creating jobs in all sectors.  To learn more about the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives, go to: 2012 IYC

Contact: Doug DiMento
(978) 687-4936 or [email protected] 

SOURCE Cabot Creamery Cooperative

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