Posted on Wed, Aug 18, 2010
Posted by Kayla Conner on August 18, 2010
Like most Great Harvests, Bloomington, Illinois, owners Rick and Anita Ashley donate their unsold bread to food banks or shelters. To take it a step further, they’ve also found a simple way for customers to contribute as well.
Anita explained, “When a customer buys 12 loaves, the thirteenth
is free. It’s a nice bonus for customers and something many look forward to earning. One of our favorite customers, Char, brought up the idea that she didn’t really need the free loaf, but was sure there were people who did. That’s how we began a program for customers to donate their free loaves to Claire House.”
Claire House provides dry goods and canned groceries to those in need, but they are not set up to distribute fresh products like bread. The free loaf cards donated by customers are distributed along with the groceries handed out by volunteers so recipients can pick up a fresh loaf at the bakery.
“Part of our mission statement is ‘Give Generously to Others’ and it is one of the reasons we chose to do this business. We think it is wonderful that so many of our customers want to contribute this way.”
Have you participated in a charitable opportunity with your local Great Harvest?
Posted on Thu, Jul 29, 2010
Posted by Debbie Huber on July 29, 2010
Jerry and Janet Lecy joined the Great Harvest family in 2007 
when they purchased an existing Great Harvest franchise in Lafayette, IN. They moved their family from Florida back to their roots in Indiana to become small business owners.
Listen to this three minute interview with Jerry to hear their story:
Have you been into the Lecy's Lafayette, IN, Great Harvest? Any stories to share about your experience?
Posted on Fri, Jul 02, 2010
Posted by Kayla Conner on July 2, 2010
For those who read this blog regularly, you know about our "One Day, One Dollar, One Goal...to Find a Cure" campaign recently held in bakeries all across the country in memory of a former Great Harvest owner, Mauri Booton. This campaign focused on raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through their Team in Training program to support Mauri's wife, Mary, in her efforts for the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon.
The "One Day, One Dollar, One Goal" campaign was a huge success on every level. We sailed past the original goal of $35,000 to help Mary cross the $50,000 mark. In addition, $5000 dollars was also raised to fund two memorial scholarships in honor of Mauri.
The generosity was overwhelming and Mary was the number two 
fundraiser in the nation for this event. The accomplishment was acknowledged at the Top Fundraising Dinner on the Friday night before the event, and of all things, the award was in the form of a gold record! It couldn't have been more perfect to honor Mauri, who inspired us all with his passion for music.
Along this journey, we learned that if Mary crossed the $50,000 mark there would also be a research grant designated in honor of Mauri, so that became a goal as well. At the Inspiration Dinner the night before the race, Mary was presented with another beautiful award and information about the research grant. It was an extremely proud moment that she shares with everyone who contributed to the campaign.
Mike Ferretti (Great Harvest's CEO), Jill Morrill, Mary and I had an 
amazing day together during the race. I've never participated in anything like this in my life, and at age 50, I'm still in a bit of shock that I committed to do something so out of my comfort zone. But there were so many good friends who supported me during my training and who believed I could...and that made all the difference.
I can't begin to describe the emotions as we crossed the finish line. This event raised $12,000,000 for cancer research. And, the importance of that was never more obvious than the morning of the race as we took off through the neighborhoods of San Diego. Along the course, we were met by cheering crowds and all the encouragement we needed, but what stood out the most were the simple hand-made signs that said "Thank you! From a cancer survivor."
I wanted to share their thanks with each of you... because it 
belongs to every customer, bakery owner, employee, and vendor that supported this campaign. As our friend Jill says, "It takes a village." Well, this is a pretty amazing village we have here and, we can be so proud of what we've done together.
Have you ever focused on a fundraising effort yourself that was met with overwhelming generosity?
Posted on Fri, Mar 26, 2010
Posted by Kayla Conner on March 26, 2010
That's a question many Great Harvest Bread Company owners ask themselves. "Give Generously to Others" is not just part of the mission statement, it something lived every day in bakeries all across the country, from the free hot slices given at the breadboard to the weekly loaves donated to local food banks. But it doesn't stop there.
Take Greg and Jill Baughn, owners of GH in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They saw a need in their community and went to work.
"Special Kids" is an organization that supports families of children with special needs. So many of these families have a very limited number of places to turn for help and the financial need is great. Joined by volunteers from "Special Kids" the bakery crew made and sold "Bready Bears" raising over $3000 to help "Special Kids" provide therapeutic rehabilitation and skilled nursing care.
Greg said "Having two healthy kids is something that you take for granted. I can not even imagine what these families go through every day and I so admire the courage of these kids. I got to join them in celebrating the birthday of a child that wasn't supposed to have lived to age one. How wonderful is that?"
If you want to help "Special Kids" or read about their service, go to www.specialkidstn.com
Has your local Great Harvest helped a charitable organization in your community?
Posted on Fri, Mar 12, 2010
Posted by Bonnie Harry on March 12, 2010
Receiving the "Phenomenal Bread" Windmill at the Great Harvest annual convention is a coveted award among Great Harvest bakery owners. Recipients of this year's 7 awards were Jim and Robin Condie (Clackamas, OR), Ted Beveridge (Atlanta, GA), JP and Michelle MacFadyen (Lafayette, LA), Bonnie Alton (St Paul, MN), Jim Hansman (Lakewood, CO), Dan and Lisa Allen (Medford, OR), and Kyle and Chris Skalisky (Wenatchee, WA). Kyle and Chris held the top spot for quality in a new store.
Bake Phenomenal Bread
is the second line of the Great Harvest Mission Statement and has been a core value since the company's beginning in 1977. In a country where most bread is baked in huge facilities or from frozen dough or dry mixes, making bread like you would make it fresh at home with fresh-milled flour and no preservatives or additives, is fairly unusual. We often get comments -- "This is BETTER than Mom used to make". Not to discount Mom's great work, but fresh-milled flour and our unique process make the difference.
Our challenge from the home office has been, "How do we help the Great Harvest bakery owners deliver the best, fresh-baked, made-from-scratch whole wheat (and other) breads to their customers?" While making phenomenal bread may seem like a given for a bread company, baking fresh from scratch with raw materials every day is far from a "no-brainer". Using honey and 100% fresh-milled whole wheat flour, with their multitudes of enzymes and individual characteristics, makes this especially challenging.
Several years ago we started a "formal" bread tasting program as a new service to our Great Harvest bakery owners. Loaves o
f Honey Whole Wheat bread are gathered from each store throughout the year. A group of tasters at the home office in Dillon, MT, taste the bread with critical taste buds and score the breads based on texture, volume, look and of course, the flavor. It's a bit like wine-tasting. Both wine and bread are fermented products with all kinds of nuances of flavors!
Out of the 190 plus loaves tasted, the top 25 scores go into a final round in early November and the top six from that round are the Phenomenal Bread Award winners for stores one year or older. New locations submit a loaf every month and the bakery that scores consistently the highest gets the Phenomenal Bread Award for a new store. All of the results are kept secret until the convention when the awards are announced. It's a hard thing to keep quiet. We get very excited for the bakery owners because we know how hard they work and how much they care about their quality.
Not only has our tasting program proved to be a great way to choose the Phenomenal Bread winners, it's been an excellent way to help owners troubleshoot problems and to help them take their bread to an even higher level. The bread is always good ....but our joint goal is always "phenomenal." In addition to the bread tasting program, we have an excellent bread baking training where owners come to Dillon to learn to bake with no other distractions. In the midst of complexities of running a small business these days, this training is invaluable to assure the adequate knowledge and experience to bake phenomenal bread.
And as far as the tasting we do in Dillon? Sure, it's a tough job as you can see, but someone has to do it!
Posted on Tue, Feb 16, 2010
Posted by Bonnie Harry on Feb. 16, 2010
Fifteen years ago, Scott Creevy marched into his Boulder Great Harvest bakery with a spray can of paint and wrote "Be Loose and Have Fun" across a wall. He was inspired by a "No Shirt, No shoes, No Problem" newsletter written by Great Harvest founder and friend, Pete Wakeman. Scott was intent to remind himself and his employees that life can be all too serious and work should be fun and serve our lives, not
the reverse. His employees watched with wide eyes, but this kind of action was not a complete surprise from their boss. Scott does nothing half-way. He leads with his heart and his passion, and it's served him well.
I had my first phone conversation with Scott in 1989
; he was a Great Harvest icon and I was a rookie at Great Harvest's home office. I was slightly intimidated by his direct and serious manner. The first time I actually met him face to face was at an informal Great Harvest convention in Isla de Mujeres, Mexico. How could I have thought this man with the twinkle in his eye, quick smile, and wry sense of humor was intimidating? Scott is truly a kid at heart. If he's serious, it's about caring for the people in his life -- his family, his friends, his employees and his customers.
Scott and Sally Creevy opened their Great Harvest Bread store in Boulder, CO in 1983. They were pioneers in a company in its infancy. Great Harvest was a perfect fit for this couple. Scott is fiercely independent and happy to make decisions. They wanted to be their own bosses, with flexibility to spend time with their kids and enjoy their lives. As one of the first 10 stores in the system, the slate was wide open for defining what a Great Harvest bakery could be. The bread of course was the core, but over the years Scott and Sally built the epitome of the neighborhood bakery, a culture in which they raised their two girls and connected with the people of Boulder. Their 20-year newspaper ad says it all, "Yes, we make great whole grain breads but this is why you love it."
The Boulder Great Harvest, true to the freedom spirit, does things its own way and has been a leader in many innovations. Scott appeared in a local video blog (Baking with Scott.) A monitor above their sandwich counter runs a slide show including bakery shots, rafting and Grand Canyon hiking trips. One of the first stores to go full bore with sandwiches, Scott and Sally added a friendly touch. Sandwich customers are on the honor system for paying. Giving generously to others has tied right into their philosophy. They were one of the first stores to spontaneously have a charity bake day for the firemen's families of 9-11. They would have helped anyway but it was personal. Scott's nephew escaped from one of the trade towers and told them he would never forget the faces of those firemen entering the building.
Scott is an avid skier and hiker. He and bakery owner friends, Bill 
Dial and Barry Sparks, have hiked the Grand Canyon for a number of years. In the winter, he plays basketball to keep in shape. Coming on 30 years in the business, the only telling sign Scott and Sally have aged is the fact their girls are grown and on their own. If a lifestyle can truly keep you young and sharp, these two have found the secret.
Have any of you been in the Creevy's Great Harvest in Boulder, CO? Any stories to share?
Posted on Fri, Feb 05, 2010
Posted by Mike Ferretti on Feb. 5, 2010
September 11. We all have stories. One of our DC area bakeries was owned by a couple that had Pentagon ties. He worked there. She used to. They lost some friends in the attack. Like the entire country, we were all aching to do something. But, we were sitting 
in Montana 2000 miles away. What could we do? We did the only thing we knew. We baked bread. We opened our training bakery to the public and sold the bread. We took all of the money we raised and sent it to the Pentagon 9/11 Victim Relief fund. A bunch of Great Harvest bakeries did the same thing in their towns. We felt better. But...
One of our field reps, Kayla Conner, came up to me at the end of the day as I was all happy with what we had done and said, "You know, that was awesome, but is it enough? We did a great thing but that is the only time the home office has ever done that. We have tons of organizations in Montana that need help. Can't we do something for them, too?"
Wow. Talk about getting a reality check. She was totally right. The fifth line of the Great Harvest Mission Statement reads Give generously to others.
It was time for the home office to start to walk the walk. It was something we all wanted to do, but we just never had as an office. That was no one's fault. We just hadn't. We were generous people doing generous things individually in the community, but not as a group.
So, we thought about how could we fix that. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of making it a part of the training that our franchisees receive when they buy a store. Prior to that, we had encouraged bakeries to give back to their communities, but had never led by example. The bakeries were living generosity but were we? From that moment forward, every training class that has come into the Great Harvest system has opened the training bakery for a day, baked and sold bread, and given all of the money to a local southwest Montana charity. Over 50 classes. Over 50 bake days. Over $200,000.
That has become a part of our training culture. People that join the Great Harvest family of bakery owners get the spirit of generosity from the day they graduate to being an owner. It isn't just a line in our mission statement. It is something we care enough about to shut the office down for these days (did I mention that these things have become so popular that trainees can't handle them on their own so we close the office for the day and join in the effort with them?) so that we can really live the dream.
And all because one field rep had the guts to say three little words. Three words everyone wanted to say but she actually did.
"Is it enough?"
Kayla Conner photo