Market’s Sales to Benefit School

Picking up a little organic lettuce, garlic mashed potatoes or firm tofu at the Riverside Drive Mrs. Gooch’s Whole Foods Market today will benefit Coldwater Canyon Elementary School as the store is donating 5% of the day’s total sales to the school for computer equipment.

In late March, nine Power Macintosh computers and an equal number of printers--worth about $31,500--were stolen from the North Hollywood elementary, according to school estimates. Another $17,000 in equipment was stolen four months earlier.

The Mrs. Gooch’s 5% donation is one way to help the elementary school recoup some of its losses, said Mickey Aronian, marketing specialist for the Sherman Oaks store at 12905 Riverside Drive.

Each quarter, the store selects a local group or school as a donation recipient, Aronian said.

Considering the school’s recent loss, it was a natural choice for the 5% program, which typically raises between $2,200 and $2,500, she said.

“As a parent, [Coldwater] is a school in dire need of things, all kinds of things--supplies, paint, everything for their outer appearance,” she said. “They just need a lot of help.”

Previous groups that have benefited from the Riverside Drive store’s 5% days are the American Heart Assn. and Penny Lane, a North Hills group home for emotionally disturbed children.

Each Mrs. Gooch’s runs its own donation program and selects its own recipients.