Holiday Makers: BioSafe Systems

BioSafe raised $10,670 for FoodShare in 2012For the past few years, BioSafe Systems has participated in the Foodshare Connecticut Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, which raises money to buy the holiday dinner for families in need and $30 for meals, otherwise known as “Turkey and a Thirty.”

“Being in the food industry for the past 15 years, we thought it was a good fit for us,” says Tammy Raymond, marketing director for BioSafe, a Connecticut-based company which manufactures biodegradable disease-control products, many of which are used in food production.

BioSafe started small in its first year participating in the drive. Employees in the family-owned company of about 50 people raised money by paying $5 to wear jeans on Fridays and organizing other small events and initiatives. The group raised more than $30,000 in the past three years, Raymond says.

“As a company, we feel very fortunate,” she says. “We all have jobs. We’re all doing well, and not everybody is as lucky. It’s very important to give back to whatever you choose as your passion, and it was important to us to give back to someone who is not as fortunate as we are.”

This year, they wanted to make a larger impact. They’re expanding their efforts and asking family, friends, vendors, media partners, the local community and others to participate in fundraising, too, and BioSafe is the Thousand Turkey Sponsor for this year's Foodshare Connecticut Food Drive. If 100 teams of individuals each collect 10 turkeys and $300, BioSafe will donate 1,000 turkeys.

Rob Larose, president and CEO, said that if employees and other BioSafe participants raise $7,000, he would match it to give a total of $14,000 to FoodShare, which will feed 1,000 families Thanksgiving Day and give them an extra $30 toward food costs.

Raymond had good news early on in the drive: as of Nov. 6, employees had already raised $7,152. She says BioSafe has been successful in this and other charitable endeavors because they start small.

“Find a cause you want to get involved with that’s going to mean something to your company and understand why you’re doing it,” Raymond says. “Put a story behind it. Instead of asking employees to donate money, explain where the money goes. Fourteen dollars gives one family a turkey. People understand that.”

More from Garden Center's Holiday Makers series:

Molbak's Garden + Home

The Washington garden center's SantaPaws event draws hundreds of potential customers, showcases its pet department and its charitable spirit.

Rimol Greenhouse Systems

The greenhouse manufacturing company helps a local food bank tackle donation shortages.