During these tough economic times, it's rare to find a company - especially a small, local business - that donates a portion of its proceeds to community causes.
One such local business, run by a Redwood City family, is Honey Bear Trees (HBT) holiday tree lot.
HBT partners with roughly 45 local Redwood City and San Carlos schools to donate 15 percent of its proceeds each year.
"The money helps to pay for arts and other programs that most schools can't afford to pay for right now, and are having to cut," said Aaron Boyle, owner of HBT, who lives with his family in Redwood City.
To let local parents know about HBT's donation pledge each year, Boyle said he pays to have big signs made that he hangs himself at local schools.
The signs cost him roughly $70 each to have made - therefore, Boyle told Patch Thursday it dealt a significant blow to HBT's pocketbooks when seven of his newly-made and hung signs were stolen Friday by an unknown thief.
Boyle said he finished hanging the seven signs at local locations near schools - such as one at Kennedy Middle School, one on El Camino Real near Sequoia High School, one at Henry Ford Elementary, one at Roosevelt School, and others - around 8 p.m. Friday night. He snapped a few photos after hanging some of the signs, as shown in the photos section of this article.
The next morning Boyle took a walk through his neighborhood, and noticed one of the signs missing.
It didn't take him long to confirm that all seven signs were gone, and to confirm that it was not the doing of anyone affiliated with the schools.
"At first I thought maybe it was a janitor or school facilities manager or someone like that, who might have seen the signs and thought they shouldn't be there," Boyle said. "But it wasn't."
"The schools are very supportive of the program, and they're just as upset as we are that the signs were taken," he continued.
Boyle consulted the Redwood City Police Department, but unfortunately there are no leads so far in the theft.
Anyone who thinks they might have seen anything or anyone suspicious with regards to the signs is asked to call RCPD immediately at 650-780-7100.
A Long History of Giving Back
Over the years, HBT has donated more than $31,000 to local schools, nonprofits, churches and more.
In addition to selling trees, HBT also offers wreaths and mistletoe, and offers services such as delivering trees to your home, and picking up and recycling trees, anywhere in the Greater Bay Area, from San Francisco to San Jose.
Oh, and - of course - there's the fact that every holiday tree purchased from HBT comes with a complimentary jar of honey! HBT's name was inspired by a man named Hans who started the tree lot next to his bee farm. Hans would sometimes sell trees from his lot to local families during the holidays, and he always gave a jar of his homemade honey with each tree.
Today, Boyle continues that tradition at HBT's two lots at 955 Woodside Road in Redwood City and 1579 El Camino Real in San Carlos.
The Redwood City lot opens on Nov. 17, and the San Carlos lot on Nov. 23.
Stay up-to-date on local news such as this - follow Patch!
Sign up for Redwood City-Woodside Patch’s daily newsletter
"Like” us on Facebook
"Follow” us on Twitter
Want to share your opinions with the communities of Redwood City and Woodside? Start your own blog here.
What percentage of donated revenue is required for advertising a private company on school grounds? Where do you draw the line? How would people react to a school bus plastered with logos like in NASCAR? A Budweiser billboard on the scoreboard? Trojan murals in the restroom?
And what about non-profits like Planned Parenthood? How can they get in on school advertising? ACLU, Amnesty International and the NRA can't be far behind!
Innovative strategy. To me a fundraiser is an event held soley to benefit a specific entity, not to increase a businesses bottomline for profits. They give 15% of their profit to the schools which is noble, but by what percentage is their business increased by advertising a private venture through public domain? I wonder what the reaction would be if a tattoo parlor or medical marijuana dispensory had envoked the same tactics.
I just laughed so hard I almost wet myself. Pull up your pants, get off the internet porn and stop butt chugging bong water.