C<\/span>annabis dispensaries have always worked to help the less fortunate in their communities, ever since the very first one opened its doors two decades ago.<\/p>\n Twenty years ago California\u2019s Prop 215 effort \u2014 the very first successful statewide ballot initiative to legalize medical cannabis \u2014 was spearheaded<\/a> by progressive San Francisco communities dealing with the AIDS epidemic. A large ensemble of the Bay Area\u2019s most visible dispensaries and brands joined together, for the fourth year running, to form Team Cannabis in the SF Aids Walk.<\/p>\n Despite having to duke it out with tech giants like Twitter and Google for a spot on the donation leaderboards, they\u2019ve always held their own. In the past, the team has seen up to 160 walkers and up to 19 cannabis businesses and organizations have participated.<\/p>\n Team Cannabis raised over $60,000 in this year\u2019s effort, with popular Northern California dispensaries like Berkeley Patients Group and Harborside contributing big bucks, $25,000 was raised by the walkers, putting the team in ninth place overall. The other $40,000 in the donation came from the teams decision to sponsor one of the walk\u2019s checkpoints, putting the grand total at $210,000 raised since Team Cannabis was founded.<\/p>\n Denver has also seen its full share of cannabis businesses giving back over the years, with everything from picking up trash in the park to building housing. In the age of corporate cannabis, plenty will find it easy to write a check. But the hands on approach by the folks at Denver Relief Consulting makes them one of the more civically active pot businesses \u00a0\u2014 and not \u00a0in a \u201cgoing to city council meetings just to keep their doors open\u201d kind of way.<\/p>\n Ean Seeb of Denver Relief Consulting said the Green Team started in 2010.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d imagine we\u2019re probably one of the oldest community service organizations that are dedicated to improving the stereotypes of cannabis users that came about as a result of the cannabis industry,\u201d he said, adding that\u00a0the real foundation of the Green Team was the aftermath of Denver\u2019s uber-popular 420 Rally \u2014 a PR disaster resulting from piles of trash left by attendees.\u00a0\u201cThe rally was such a black eye for cannabis users in 2010. So we made some shirts, bought some trash bags, and picked up trash.\u201d<\/p>\n This past April, the organizers lost their permit<\/a>\u00a0to throw the rally: Seeb doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence that it was the first year that organizers chose not to work with The Green Team.<\/p>\n \u201cFor whatever reason, they didn\u2019t want us there,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we didn\u2019t send The Green Team this year and they got the whole thing taken away. Had we been there maybe it wouldn\u2019t have been taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n At their own dispensary, Denver Relief started free bicycle and wheelchair repair clinics. A couple bike shops down the road pitched in and it took off.<\/p>\n People were extra generous in paying for their repairs and the bike shops were providing the supplies at nearly wholesale costs. Seven years later, the bike and wheelchair clinics are still going strong, with four a year during the summer months. And despite the break from the 420 rally, the Green Team still participates in a couple clean up efforts every year with a big one planned for August.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve also been heavily involved with one of Denver\u2019s biggest urban farms for many years.<\/p>\n \u201cOur volunteers are responsible for the largest harvest the farm ever had in one session,\u201d Seeb said. \u201cOur volunteers harvested over 1,800 pounds of food. All of that food was donated or used in 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Seeb said the Green Team saw some pushback from traditional charity organizations in the early days, but not much since.<\/p>\n One exception was a shelter, which accepted a Green Team donation initially, but rejected one offered the following year out of fears that accepting it would threaten their federal funding.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went to set things up again and they said they couldn\u2019t work with us because of who we are and had to reject the donation,\u201d Seeb said, adding that Denver Relief Consulting is now transforming the Green Team into a certified nonprofit, which will allow the team to work with the community while providing a bit more distance for organizations worried about donors with cannabis ties. \u201cIt gives nonprofits protection on the feds side, and it gives cannabis companies the opportunity to donate to an organization they know is going to work to better what they\u2019re doing\u201d<\/p>\n Seeb believes more and more cannabis companies are getting serious about giving back.<\/p>\n \u201cThe companies with dozens of stores are setting up their own foundations.\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a unique industry given the fact that it\u2019s rare one gets to create a new industry in one\u2019s lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US,\u00a0<\/strong>what\u2019s your favorite cannabis charity program?<\/p>\n The post Giving Back from Ganja Profits: Industry Efforts Raise Thousands for Charity<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
By now the word is out that legal cannabis means big boosts in revenue for crucial civic agencies and social services, but many people are unaware of the additional efforts cannabis companies are making to give back to their communities. Cannabis dispensaries have always worked to help the less fortunateContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[965,50,670,80,966,170,967,968],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18188,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18187\/revisions\/18188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Giving Back from Ganja Profits: Industry Efforts Raise Thousands for Charity<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"