Donating turkeys, fresh and canned food is a popular and generous way businesses give back over the holidays, especially during Thanksgiving. But Vanderhoof Garden Center had a different approach this year after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines in early November 2013, killing more than 6,000 people there and injuring thousands more.
After owner Jason Vanderhoof saw the destruction from the tropical storm on the news, he told Brenda Pettibon, dispatch supervisor at the Texarkana, Texas, garden center, that he wanted to do something to help.
“Jason is really big in helping the community and has organized several local events,” Pettibon says. “He worked with the Red Cross when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, and when the need arises, he [steps in].”
The garden center immediately jumped into action, organizing an event Nov. 23 to raise money for the Red Cross. The plan was to donate 100 percent of tree and shrub purchases to the Red Cross. In addition, the garden center organized a donations-only cookout with hot dogs, chips and soda. The local Red Cross also brought a disaster response vehicle to the garden center that people could tour and provided information about what the organization does to help victims.
What they couldn’t plan for or predict was the weather.
“Usually it’s in the 50s, and it was 30 degrees and raining,” Pettibon says. “We were lucky – areas all around us got hit with ice, snow, power outages and trees down. We just got the bone-chilling cold.”
Despite the fact the event was shared on social media and picked up by the local TV station, radio station and newspaper, they only had about 25 people show up. So they changed things up a bit – proceeds from all garden center sales went to the Red Cross’ Typhoon Haiyan fund that day. All in all, Vanderhoof raised more than $2,000.
“I would have picked a better day for weather, that’s for sure,” Pettibon says. “A local grocery store donated the hot dogs and Walmart donated the buns, but we could have got out there and marketed a little better and had more local businesses involved.”
Despite the unfortunate weather and low turnout, Pettibon still thought the event was successful. They raised money for victims of the typhoon and the local media coverage was good advertising for the garden center.
“We had employees volunteer time to make it a success, and we had a great time. The local Filipino community was here, and people hugged us and thanked us,” she says. “Money is tight for everybody, especially during the holidays, but to see people come out and support this and be moved emotionally, that was the best part.”