Hope Blooms, the registered charity and social enterprise in north end Halifax, recently held a celebration event at the Joseph Howe Atlantic Superstore for the official retail launch of their latest project, Possibili-TEAS. Premier Tim Houston joined invited guests from the north end community, store manager Barry Hayman and Atlantic Superstore colleagues from across the city along with youth, staff, and volunteers from Hope Blooms, to sample the new teas and share news of all that Hope Blooms has been up to over the past two years.
Hope Blooms has partnered with Atlantic Superstore since November 2015, when four Halifax-area stores began selling Hope Blooms’ fresh herb dressings, with all proceeds of sales going to the Hope Blooms Scholarship Fund. Since that time, the partnership has expanded to include sales at 24 Superstore locations across Nova Scotia, with almost $100,000 generated in dressing sales for Hope Blooms scholarships, as well as an evolving partnership that includes mentorships, Atlantic Superstore colleagues volunteering at the garden, support during the pandemic and much more.
Jessie Jollymore is Executive Director of Hope Blooms. She said, “Possibili-TEAS is the latest venture to build on our organization’s commitment to tackling food insecurity, supporting our community, and building future leaders. We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Superstore by launching sales of the teas in these stores.”
The model with our fresh herb dressing sales has already been so successful, more than 65,000 bottles sold in the past six-plus years to grow the scholarship fund for Hope Blooms youth. Jollymore said, “The group is hoping for a record-breaking year for sales, as they will have fourteen more youth graduating from high school in the spring. One hundred per cent of Hope Blooms youth who have been engaged long term in the program have gone on to post-secondary education, and all of them are the first generation in their families to attend college or university. “Thanks Superstore. You are impacting the lives of so many young people who would not otherwise have these opportunities!”
Mark Boudreau, Director of corporate affairs with Loblaw Atlantic, said “As a company, our partnership with Hope Blooms has really opened our eyes to new ways of engaging with our communities. Our colleagues have embraced Hope Blooms, and our customers know that when they purchase a bottle of Hope Blooms dressing, and now the new PossibiliTEAs, that they are investing in youth who are inspiring people across Canada and who are actively making their own community a better place. This is something we are passionate about, and very proud of.”
At the event, Boudreau also made a surprise announcement of a $5000 donation to Hope Blooms for their much-needed garden expansion, and, starting immediately at the Joseph Howe Superstore, with plans to expand sales to other local area stores coming soon, 100% of pproceeds from the new teas will go back to Hope Blooms for the establishment of a new music studio, allowing more local youth to follow their dreams and develop their passions.
About Hope Blooms
Hope Blooms engages youth in actualizing their full potential, becoming positive agents of change in their communities, and building bright futures through experiential education, urban agriculture, environmental stewardship, social entrepreneurship, and Hope Blooms Scholarships. Within a context of long-term impact for generational change, youth join Hope Blooms when they are five years old and graduate when they are 18, at which time they receive a yearly renewed scholarship from the proceeds of their salad dressing social enterprise. What began with a small plot of land has grown into a youth-driven movement with over 150 youth and over 100 families from diverse ethnicities and cultures.
