If you’re familiar with Timber Cannabis Co (and our parent company, Stash Ventures), you may know about Higher Hopes and our commitment to giving back to our communities, which has been baked into our mission and culture since the beginning. Like us, the folks over at Wyld share these values and work to incorporate giving into every aspect of their business. This month we are partnering with Wyld to match give back for a special Arbor Day campaign.
Part of our Higher Hopes mission is creating events that bring together our employees and community members to support causes that align with our passions and make a positive impact. We are asking our team members to get outside during the months of April and May to give their own communities a little TLC, by cleaning up their local parks, waterways, and forests.
“Our employees love being outside,” says Brelynn Woodrick, head of Higher Hopes. Of the company volunteer hours, 70% are outside. Stash encourages team members to follow their passions and interests when volunteering, Brelynn says. “Lean into what you’re good at and enjoy. We want employees to come to work and feel passionate about something other than their day to day tasks.”
Jac Stafford, Director of Sales for Wyld, says Wyld has a similar ethos, cultivating a greater sense of purpose in the team and a commitment to leaving the planet better than they found it. “Environmental impact is an absolute must and a commitment that will always be a part of the foundation that makes Wyld, Wyld.”
In addition to volunteering, we are working with Wyld to give back to our environmental initiatives with every purchase of a Wyld product during the month of April! Proceeds will go to the HeadWaters Land Conservancy to support the acquisition of 68 acres on the ‘Holy Waters’ of the AuSable River in Crawford County for protection and conservation. The HeadWaters Land Conservancy protects, restores, conserves, and stewards over thirteen thousand acres of protected land in Northern Michigan.
Their work includes protecting and preserving regionally important agricultural lands, undeveloped tracts of forests for both timber and wildlife, scenic landscapes, and fresh water swamps, streams, and lakes. They also provide conservation easements, which are intended for long term sustainability and will protect the land for future generations. The Conservancy began as a volunteer organization and grew into a land trust that hosts volunteer opportunities as well as seasonal events like spooky Halloween boardwalks and moonlit snow shoe hikes.
One of our District Managers, BobbieJo Wilson, recently joined the board of HeadWaters Land Conservancy. Northern Michigan has been her home for most of her life, and she feels passionately about preserving the natural beauty of the area. Over the years, she has watched more and more people travel to experience the beauty of the region, even as climate change has begun to affect the ecosystems. Seeing so many people appreciate these local lands made her determined to get involved in keeping them alive and thriving. HeadWaters does everything from planting native plants along river preserves, to adding bird and bat boxes to a thinning oak canopy, to restoring rare dune and swale ecosystems along Lake Huron. They are primarily focused on, as BobbieJo says, “restoring things to how they were before humans messed it up.”
We are so excited to be partnering with Wyld for this initiative. There is a lot of alignment between Wyld and Timber – both companies feel strongly about environmental sustainability, social and racial justice, combating the war on drugs, health and wellness, and last but not least, high quality cannabis. Wyld is a leader in the edibles space in North America, selling their all natural, real fruit, sustainably sourced gummies in 17 states and Canada. Their claim to fame is gummies that provide a consistent and customizable experience by utilizing minor cannabinoids such as CBG, CBC, and CBN to obtain a desired effect.
In 2023, the Wyld team, along with their partners, planted trees in urban areas in 11 different cities across 9 states in North America, and planted over 5000 trees for reforestation efforts as well. All Wyld buildings are powered by renewable energy, and the company invests in sustainability initiatives across the board, from efficient delivery practices, to using LED light bulbs in their facilities, to sourcing juices domestically, using compostable packaging, and more.
Both companies are so excited to work together and it’s been an amazing partnership so far, says Brelynn. “Stash works to make an impact on a hyper-local level, so we are grateful to Wyld, a national company, for honoring our efforts to stay local. It is important to us to impact our communities and the people we live with in them.” BobbieJo and Jac agree that it’s been amazing to see the alignment between both companies in their passion and principles.
It’s also very rewarding to see the power that cannabis has in connecting people, Jac says. Since cannabis is so widely accepted these days, it has the power to reach people of all kinds, and can be used as a tool to grow passion and bring people together over shared values. “In many cases, environmental sustainability has been siloed and kept from marginalized communities”, Jac says, which is why Wyld tries to create accessible ways to make an impact, and encourages their patrons to participate as well. “It’s an investment on the company’s part, investing resources in communities and in the planet, ultimately bettering the experience for patrons and all of us as inhabitants of this earth. It feels good to vote with your dollar and know the companies you’re investing in are doing good things with that dollar.”
We’re sure you’ll agree – the natural beauty of Michigan is worth protecting. Stop by any Timber Cannabis Co. location during the month of April to pick up your favorite Wyld product to support HeadWaters Land Conservancy!