Deck the Halls This Christmas for the Less Fortunate in Your Community

Jody Shilan | October 18, 2010

The holiday season is a time to be thankful, reflect, and help others. So I want to share with you a great idea that is not just "good will", but good karma and great publicity.

I call it "Adopt a Tree" and it is something that I am very passionate about. It is an idea that I conceived about 15 years ago but only started implementing around 2004. I have had wonderful success with it and now you can too.

What is so wonderful about this concept is that, while the cost is so little, the benefits are huge and it is a perfect fit for Green Industry companies. Most companies have the employees, the equipment and the relationships to make this happen, with very little effort and just a few phone calls.

It's so exciting and so simple that you are going to wish you did this years ago. All I ask is that you do it this year.

Every year around this time, nurseries, garden centers, and pretty much any open parking lot have Christmas trees for sale. It's a good business for many, a fund raiser for some, and a convenience factor for others.

You may not realize this, but usually two or three days before Christmas, these places close up shop and stop selling trees (wreaths, grave blankets, and roping). The unsold trees are put into the chipper, turning perfectly good Christmas trees into wood chips.

Now think about the fact, that no matter where you live, there are families in your community that would love to have a Christmas tree but cannot afford to buy one.

So, before the nurseries crank up the chipper, save the trees and donate them to the less fortunate families in your community.

Many of you already have the vehicles, equipment, and people in place to do this.

Besides being an awesome thing to do, this is a tremendous PR opportunity for you, your company, and the vendors that donate the trees to you . This is the type of human interest story that magazines, newspapers and television stations salivate over, especially around the holidays.

To help you promote "Adopt A Tree", I've created a press release that you can download for free. Please save it to your computer as a Word document and then make any edits necessary. At a minimum make sure that you fill in your name, company name and how, when and where you will be distributing the trees. Also, make sure that you include the names of the vendors that donated the trees and let them know that they are part of this promotion.

Then just call your local newspaper editors, magazine editors and TV stations and ask them where you can send the press release.

Let's give back to our fellow man and take this time to enjoy our families and friends. You can share your thoughts in the comments box below.

Happy Holidays!

Jody offers his keen insights and expert advice to fellow landscape design/build contractors at FromDesign2Build.com. He is also currently serving as the President of the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association.

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