Good News from Truckee, CA
Photo credit: ClickTahoe.com
Even in the midst of a crisis, Truckee businesses found ways to spark joy, join forces, and spread good news in their community. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks, in case you missed them:
Lucky takeout diners found golden tickets in their pizza boxes from Old Town Tap
Remember the Golden Ticket that got Charlie into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory? Well Old Town Tap, a rustic pizza joint in downtown Truckee, recreated the magic with Golden Tickets of their own. The tickets were placed at random in takeout pizza boxes and instead of winning entry into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, OTT diners won a free pizza of their choice!
Old Trestle Distillery is supplying Truckee with hand sanitizer
Old Trestle Distillery has been making hand sanitizer for the past 2 months, answering the community's need during COVID-19. Already, they have given away thousands of bottles to individuals locally and sold below-market gallon quantities to larger organizations and businesses. Learn more about their sanitizer program.
We Are Community from Court Leve on Vimeo.
Small businesses in Truckee have a message to share: We are community and we are here to stay.
Even during hard times, there is good news to share. That's the message of the "We Are Community" project from Court Leve. Truckee businesses have a challenging future ahead, one that will require adaptation and resilience. But as the video shows, they're not going anywhere:
https://www.facebook.com/BespokeTruckee/videos/1136768150007131/
Video credit: Court Leve
Bespoke and Atelier brought joy to Truckee, one rainbow at a time
Vibrant rainbows transformed historic downtown Truckee during the height of COVID-19. It started when Heather River of Bespoke and Atelier painted rainbows across her store's windows to spread a little joy. Shuttered businesses quickly took notice and soon Heather’s rainbows began popping up all over town. Today, there are over 74 rainbows around Truckee! They’re a bright, hopeful reminder to residents that everything will be okay and that Truckee’s small businesses are still here.
Spread the positive message with your own rainbow! Purchase one of Heather’s rainbow kits from Atelier.
Word After Word Books wants to surprise you with their new book bundles
Word After Word Books has a new book bundle program for all you book worms out there. The bundles are customizable - you tell them your price range and what you typically like to read and they curate a stack of books just for you! Adventurous readers can choose “Surprise Me” and sign up for bundle of books in the blind!
Truckee's cozy bookshop was scheduled to move into a gorgeous new space in the Historical Mercantile Building on Commercial Row but then COVID-19 hit. Right now they need your help. Please consider donating to Word After Word Books’ fundraiser to help them build the new bookshop.
Tahoe Food Hub donates Giving Boxes to out of work restaurant employees
The Tahoe Food Hub, the Truckee nonprofit that works to put farm-fresh, local food on our tables just went a step further to provide for our community. They launched a Giving Box program to feed out of work, unemployed restaurant workers. There are two different boxes - a donation of $20 feeds 1-2 people and a donation of $30 feeds a family of 3-4. Donate a Giving Box.
11 adorable puppies were adopted from the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe
As if cute puppies weren’t enough to bring joy to Truckee, each one was given an inspirational name like Hope, Love, Sunshine, and Joy. When the applications went live on Giving Tuesday, the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe received 124 submissions in the first five minutes! The puppies continue to spread pawsitivity from their forever homes with their lucky new owners.
Daffodils donated by the Villager Nursery sprung up around Truckee
You can’t help but smile when you see daffodils poke their heads up, a sure sign that spring has arrived. Villager Nursery seems to think so at least. Every year they give away 2000-4000 bulbs in Truckee with the requirement that they are planted in a space where the public can enjoy their colors. Why? Simply because they bring joy to the community. During the height of COVID-19, Truckee turned gold as daffodils popped up around town, a beautiful reminder to stop and smile.
Kristie Pellegrino Photography porch portraits benefit the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund
Kristie Pellegrino Photography takes free porch portraits (from a distance!) with the request that you make a donation to the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund. Check out her Instagram to see all the great family portraits she has taken so far in the #frontporchproject.
Bigtruck lets you choose: “Help Us, Help Our Community, or Help Yourself”
Bigtruck recognizes these are hard times for all. When you shop with them, you are helping their small business. Then they let you choose who to help. Fallen on hard times? You can opt for $5 off of your order. Or pay full price and they will donate $5 to the nonprofit of your choice: Sierra Community House, Tahoe Forest COVID-19 Emergency Response Fun, or High Fives Foundation.