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5. Scoop Shops > Scoop Shop Community Action Ben & Jerry’s franchisees take great pride in being part of their community, and virtually all translate our Social Mission into action in their own unique ways. We love to hear about projects far and near, and when we add up all the various community initiatives, including product donations and paid employee time, the sum total of our franchisees’ efforts always boggles our mind. In all, Ben & Jerry’s franchisees directly contributed almost $500,000 worth of time, product, and money in support of local community projects in 2007 — and leveraged even more support for valuable projects around the country through their efforts. We’re thankful for the dedication and creativity of our franchisees when it comes to community action. Franchisee Highlights The full story of our franchisees’ community activities in 2007 would crash your computer, so here are just a few tidbits that caught our attention:
Franchise Community Service Project
In 2007, staff, franchisees and managers from around the world gathered in post-Katrina New Orleans and got straight to work in Musician’s Village, building houses with our friends from The New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. We could have gathered in a host of sunny vacation spots, but chose to return to New Orleans (we gathered there in 2005). While we rarely return to the same city twice for this gathering, we felt coming back to the Crescent City was one small way we could support the people devastated by the storm. In short, we hoped that bringing our franchisees to New Orleans would play a small part in helping the city as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina. We brought our tourist dollars and, as always, we brought our hammers and nails, too. In two great days of work, Ben & Jerry’s donated 2,500 hours of labor to New Orleans Habitat for Humanity, in addition to $30,000 in cash support. Company Store Community Involvement Our company stores continue to model the spirit of giving back through their community involvement and donations programs. In 2007, ten company stores in New York, Las Vegas and Vermont contributed more than $36,500 worth of product and staff time in support of over 50 nonprofit agencies. Here’s just a sample of some of the ways our company stores were involved with their communities in 2007.
Scooper Bowl In 2007, for the 22nd year, Ben & Jerry’s was once again able to send a team from our South Burlington office down to Boston in early June to participate in the Scooper Bowl, a gathering of ice cream companies and ice cream lovers joining together for a lot of ice cream in support of a good cause — raising money for cancer research. The Vermont folks teamed up with Massachusetts area franchisees to scoop more than 20,000 servings of ice cream. All in, our team helped raise $259,000 for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s children’s programs. |
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Big Brothers Big Sisters, Mark is a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity’s St. Louis Chapter, a former board member for a local school district, and a current member of the board of a local nonprofit agency serving homeless youth. Mark has used his business to benefit children by making donations to 23 local schools — and dozens of nonprofits including the St. Louis Science Center, Saul Brodsky Jewish Community Center, the Palestinian Children’s Welfare Fund, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the National Alliance For Autism Research, the National Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the American Cancer Society.
the school, and on Free Cone Day 2008, Doug will try to collect 10,000 coins for their benefit. On the other hand, Doug has organized amazingly successful “Pint for a Pint” blood drives six times a year, in partnership with a local nonprofit agency. In 2007, donors at Doug’s Charlottesville shop gave more than 240 pints of blood. In addition, Doug isn’t afraid to think outside the box and explore new opportunities to use his business to support his community. For example, when a local Girl Scout troop asked to sell their cookies in Doug’s shop, he went even farther and purchased 60 boxes of Thin Mint cookies which he then worked into a featured menu item. In one week the Girl Scout promotion raised $250 for the troupe.
the community in which she lives and works. Laurie supports dozens of nonprofits, but programs serving children and animals are her personal favorites. For over 7 years Laurie has been a supporter of Guide Dogs of the Desert, an organization that matches blind people with Seeing Eye dogs. She supports this organization on Free Cone Day and throughout the year with donations of product and her time. Laurie is also a friend of The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, a conservation organization and The Children’s Discovery Museum of the Desert which inspires and promotes intellectual curiosity and self expression. She hosts benefit nights and donates ice cream for these organizations several times a year.
Once a year, Ben & Jerry’s franchisees get together at the Annual Franchise Community Gathering to network and share best practices. In true Ben & Jerry’s style, the meeting traditionally kicks off with a community service project in partnership with a local nonprofit organization in the host city. We’ve rebuilt houses, cleaned beaches, spruced up a community center, and built playgrounds and skate parks in underserved communities over the years.