From the Board of Directors
Reflections on Community, Growth, and the Power of The Merc Co+op
Deon Whitten, Board Member
I can still see it clearly.
I was sitting at my mom’s house when I came across an article about The Merc possibly expanding into Kansas City, Kansas, with talk of a location on Fifth and Minnesota Ave. As a KU Student I had maybe stepped foot inside The Merc once.
But that did not stop me from having an opinion.
And if I am being honest, it was not a fair one.
To me, The Merc Co+op felt like a place that was not built for people like me. I had labeled it as uppity, exclusive, and meant for a certain type of person. The kind of place where you had to already belong before you even walked through the door. The truth is, I had formed all of that without ever really giving it a chance.
Then my mom said something that caught me off guard. “You should run for the board.”
I laughed.
Not because it was impossible, but because it did not make sense to me. I saw myself as the complete opposite of what I thought The Merc Co+op represented. I even joked that it would be like asking a vegetarian to represent a cattle ranch. That is how disconnected I felt from it.
But something about it stayed with me. And for reasons I still cannot fully explain, I decided to go through the process anyway.
A Decision That Started in Skepticism
I did not run because I believed in the co-op. I ran because I had questions. Concerns. Doubts.
I felt like I needed to represent my community and make sure that if something was coming into Kansas City, Kansas, it truly reflected and respected the people already there. In my mind, I was stepping in to protect something. What I did not realize at the time was that I was about to be transformed by it.
The Moment Everything Changed
Part of the process required attending a board meeting. I walked into that room carrying every assumption I had ever made. Within minutes, I felt them start to fall apart.
The conversations were thoughtful. The people were grounded. There was a level of care and intentionality that I had not expected. It was not performative. It was real.
I remember meeting Mark that day. In one of our first conversations, I told him, half joking but also very real, that I did not think I fit. I told him I felt too fat to represent the co-op. He did not hesitate. He smiled and said, in essence, that is not who we are. And in that moment, something shifted.
For the first time, I was not being evaluated based on the assumptions I had placed on myself or the assumptions I had placed on the co-op. I was being invited in.
Learning What Community Actually Looks Like
As I continued the process and eventually joined the board, I began to understand something I had never truly been exposed to before: cooperative economics. Not just as a concept, but as a lived reality.
I saw what it looked like when people have ownership, not just financially, but relationally. I saw what it meant to make decisions that were not just about margins, but about people, access, and long-term impact.
I met individuals who were committed to doing things the right way, even when it was harder. I traveled. I learned. I built relationships that I know will last a lifetime. And somewhere along the way, The Merc Co+op stopped being something I questioned. It became something I believed in.
Growth I Did Not See Coming
If I am honest, my time with the co-op has been just as much about my personal growth as it has been about anything else. I came in guarded, skeptical, and carrying assumptions that were not rooted in experience. But I stayed because of what I found on the other side of those assumptions.
I found people who cared deeply about community. I found a space where I did not have to change who I was to belong. I found purpose in being part of something bigger than myself.
The hardest moment along the way was the decision to close the Kansas City, Kansas store. That was difficult because in many ways that location was the very reason I stepped into this journey.
But even in that moment, there was growth.
Growth in understanding the weight of leadership.
Growth in recognizing that hard decisions do not mean failed missions.
Growth in seeing that community is not confined to a single building.
Why I Stayed and Why You Should Consider Stepping In
I often say this now. I ran for the board for all the wrong reasons. But I stayed for all the right ones.
The Merc became more than an organization to me. It became family. And when something becomes family, your commitment does not depend on location or circumstance. It becomes part of who you are. That is why I am sharing this. Because there are people right now who might be where I once was, watching from the outside, forming opinions, unsure if they belong.
If that is you, I want you to know something.
You do not have to have it all figured out to step in. You do not have to look a certain way. You do not have to think a certain way. You do not have to come from a certain background.
What matters is your willingness to show up. To learn. To engage. To be part of something that is actively trying to make community better.
An Invitation
If you are considering getting involved, whether that means running for the board, becoming a member, or simply walking through the doors with an open mind, do it. Not because you have all the answers. But because you might discover something you did not even know you needed.
I did. And it changed my life.