

Save Anabel's and the CTA
Unfortunately, after various meetings with key members of Cornell administration, Cornell still refuses to reverse their decision to terminate SCL's 53-year affiliation agreement and cut all funding to the Center for Transformative Action. While Cornell has recently proposed an alternative affiliation agreement for CTA, this agreement comes with no funding. Given this, Anabel's Grocery and CTA's 30+ other projects have an increasingly uncertain future.
Leaders at Anabel's have been working tirelessly to find alternative funding sources for CTA and specifically Anabel's. One avenue we're exploring is funding from the Student Assembly. The Student Assembly has recently unanimously passed a Resolution calling to officially establish a committee for investigating solutions for Anabel's funding. This Resolution has just been placed on President Kotlikoff's desk.
How can you help? We strongly encourage you to write a comment ASAP (as the Resolution has just been sent to Kotlikoff) on the official Student Assembly Resolution 30 (Resolution on the Sustainable Future of Anabel's Grocery) website answering the following two questions:
(1) Have you, or a student you know, been impacted by the services provided by Anabel's Grocery?
(2) Should the Student Assembly explore avenues for alternative funding sources for Anabel's Grocery?
Feel free to copy over your testimonial from our original petition website for the first question. If you need help finding your testimonial, reply to the update email you received this morning and we'll send it to you.
Scroll to the bottom of the website to find the comment input box. Please note that it might take up to a day for your comment to appear on the Student Assembly's website.
Thank you all again for your support! We really appreciate it, and we hope we have better news to share going forward :)
What Happened
In December 2024, Cornell's Office of Student and Campus Life chose not to renew its 53-year affiliation agreement with the Center for Transformative Action, which houses Anabel's Grocery and 34 other nonprofit social change organizations, taking away over $100k in annual endowment income after June 2027. While Cornell is working towards finding another affiliation for the CTA, it will very likely not include any funding.
What This Means
Without this funding that constitutes 25% of CTAs annual revenue, CTA's future is uncertain, and with it all of the projects that depend on it, including Anabel's. SCL has given CTA a grace period until the end of FY 27 to find additional funding, but we need to act now.
How You Can Help
Leaders of Anabel's are putting their academics, extracurriculars, and personal lives aside to save these organizations which have positively impacted tens of thousands of Cornellians. You can help by signing the petition and optionally writing a testimonial about how much Anabel's and the CTA have meant to you.
Testimonials
Showing the 25 most recent. Show all 683 testimonials
When I moved to Ithaca, someone I care about dearly introduced me to Anabel's, and it makes me feel connected and grounded and like I belong each time I enter the space. Having places that help you feel calm, where you can get fresh tofu and produce, is part of what keeps me sane. I have a lot of font memories from easier times. Please I hope Anabel's finds the funding necessary. It has meant a lot to me.
I could not imagine my upperclassmen experience without annabels. It has made me so much less afraid about cooking and the uncertainty that comes with not knowing what groceries to get or where they come from. The community that has been built is one like no other and I am so grateful to be able to experience it. I really hope that other people are also able to experience this thing that is such a pivotal thing to my cornell society.
i love shopping at anabels! have gotten all kinds of great and fun vegetables, extremely conveniently and at great prices
During her time at Cornell, our daughter was heavily involved in volunteering and raising money for Anabel's. Having heard a number of stories about the positive impact that Anabel's had for the Cornell community, it breaks my heart that Cornell is no longer supporting a terrific initiative!
Anabel's Grocery has allowed my daughter to put into practice entrepreneurship skills right on campus, and additionally delivering to students fresh food at accessible prices. All together it is a incredible initiative that only benefits students.
Anabel’s has been my favorite spot to get fresh goods throughout my time at Cornell. The staff is friendly, prices are great, and variety and supply of goods is helpful. Anabel’s is one of the best initiatives I’ve seen throughout my time here and it would be a shame if it closed and future students did not have the opportunity to enjoy it as I have.
This is a beautiful community of people who always bring a smile to my face when I go in. I don’t have a car and rely on rides or the tcat to get to grocery stores. Having access to such high quality local produce right on campus is completely game changing. I go every week. Anabels has made it feasible/affordable to cook healthy. For anyone who genuinely cares about student well being, it should be a no brainer to keep it open.
Amazing groceries and super fresh!
Annabel's is a place of community, connection, and guaranteed good food. I have fond memories of travelling there with friends and finding good healthy food to eat when we were running low on cash.
This isn’t something that has impacted me specifically, but I think it’s disheartening to see Cornell take funding away from something that’s so impactful to the Ithaca community. Affordable food and food insecurity are big issues in Ithaca and Anabel’s Grocery has been a tremendous help towards that, so we should be working to protect it and the people it helps not getting rid of it.
Anabel Grocery is a vital part of Ithaca's and Cornell's broader community. Without Anabel Grocery, Ithaca local community members wouldn't be able to access affordable food and this can cause issues with housing, etc. As part of Cornell's commitment, we should be responsible to uphold these responsibilities and ensure that we continue to support Anabel's Grocery.
Anabel’s grocery has been such an important project for the cornell community and it is unfortunate to see that Cornell is standing’s on its promise to support social justice. Overall, i think it’s unfortunate that we will be losing a large part of the community due to this.
When I lived in Ithaca Campus, one of my favorite things to do was to visit Anabel's grocery store. They provide the most fresh and affordable supplies and ingredients for my meals. I cannot believe that if school make any decision close this lovely place. I hope school can make a wise decision and find any solution to resolve any funding issues.
I love the organic food and supplies at Annabel, especially brussel sprouts
Anabel's Grocery is a staple of Cornell, providing so much opportunity and resource. Getting rid of it means getting rid of part of Cornell's heart and what makes student life uniquely Cornellian.
Anabel’s Grocery is an incredibly vital, rare, and unique service and project that Cornell is lucky to have. Considering the sparse options for grocery store food items for students living on campus, this store has been a lifeline. There is no other place that offers fresh, locally sourced food, and it would be a huge mistake and a huge loss for the university to no longer have Anabel’s on campus. Please support this amazing grocery store and this special initiative.
As a low income student, living off campus, on full financial aid, Anabel’s is the only way I can afford to have well balanced meals with the financial aid I am on.
I have many colleagues that rely on this resource on a weekly basis to stay nourished. Removing it entirely would uproot their food security.
Anabel's is such a good source for groceries and I think the work it does to promote sustainability is extremely important on Cornell's campus.
Anabel's is my happy place! It is difficult to find cheap and fresh food in Ithaca. As a graduate student on a very tight stipend, but committed to buying local, Anabel's has been a lifesaver. Understanding where our food comes from is so important for critically thinking about the world today. Anabel's sources food from local farms. It is important to the community, and is also important for educational purposes for students. To undermine Anabel's, and other CTA projects, is detrimental not only to the Cornell students but the Ithaca community. It is a very difficult time for students. The administration of Cornell University needs to put their money where their mouth is, and have a heart.
This store has created a space where I can access high quality food that can be very difficult to find nearby!!!
It has given me access to fresh good, eggs, nuts, and other healthy foods. And it has offered me social spaces to create community connections.
I'm an alumna from 1995, and although I have never been to Anabel's, from reading about it I see that it exemplifies so many values that I believe in and would like to see continue at Cornell. I love the way it provides access to healthy and organic food, how it helps get food to food-insecure students, how it is nonprofit, and how the store is integrated into actual courses at Cornell to provide students with valuable real world experience. It seems to be a thriving part of Cornell, and so useful to so many students, so it would be a real shame if its funding were to be taken away and it were to close.
I took the Anabels class and loved it, it taught me about social justice and sustainable eating. I rely on Anabels for my groceries too.
I go to anabels all the time for groceries. Please don’t take it away!
Showing the 25 most recent. Show all 683 testimonials