Last year’s 420 Rally in downtown Denver saw 48 people arrested and a thick layer of litter strewn across Civic Center Park following the annual event. The unpleasant aftermath led Native Roots to rethink how the vertically-integrated cannabis company might best leverage this important day.
Along with the usual bevy of consumer deals, Native Roots is using 4/20 to offer the Colorado community something more: local volunteer work.
“Some of the issues that took place last year prompted us to—since we were not involved in some of the ‘unofficial activities’ that go on—to focus on clean-up,” Native Roots communications manager Kim Casey tells Cannabis Dispensary. “We had gone to a park previously to do a park clean-up to focus the efforts and the awareness on the fact that this particular industry is a very community-oriented industry.”
Last year, Native Roots employees clocked more than 450 volunteer hours around the state, according to Casey.
“It’s a big piece of our focus,” Casey says of her company’s altruistic ethos. “It’s not just a statement painted on the wall, but it’s truly something that we believe in and live every day.”
This year, Native Roots employees are syncing their 4/20 activities with Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 28) and joining the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation in planting trees around Town Center Park. The dispensary chain also has other park clean-ups planned in Cherry Creek and Edgewater.
Native Roots has a few in-store, 4/20 promotions planned as well: All locations will offer a scratch-off card that may win one lucky customer or patient a trip to Jamaica. Other promotions include $99 half-ounces ($89 for medical), $40 for two grams of shatter ($30 for medical) and more.
“Certainly, in the retail world, this is a major purchasing day. We know that, throughout the entire industry, all of the dispensaries across Colorado gear up for that. We all kind of look at that and recognize that this is a day of higher purchases and higher retail sales.
“By taking our efforts and focusing them in a different direction during this time frame, we’re trying to remind our community as well as the greater public that we are members of this community. We are employers. We are supporters of our community, both financially as well as [via] community service hours.”
Photos courtesy of Native Roots
