This holiday season, the Accounting department got really into the holiday spirit. Our very own Jean Eulian, gave most the office their very own personalized scarf, scarves that she had been working on all year! She studied what colors the men and women wore in the office and then would knit everyone a scarf in their “colors.” She is still working on getting scarves done for everyone in the office, and can’t wait until everyone’s is done! Jean says she finds relaxation by knitting and really enjoyed this little secret project.

From left to right you see Laurie, Luis, Tim, Cherie, Kathe, Wendy, Kylie, Ashley, Megan, Nicole, Emily H, second row: Jo, Emily V, Morgan, Randy, Jean T and Sarah all wearing their cozy scarves! They are posing in front of Accounting’s special Christmas “Money” Tree. The accounting department started soliciting monetary donations for the tree and for each dollar donated, they decorated the tree with fake dollar bills. At the end of that week, a total donation of $160 was sent to the American Cancer Society to celebrate our own FP Team Members remissions.

 Megan and Sarah enjoying the festivities

 Thom and Laurie getting in the spirit.

 Vicki and Jo wearing some holiday colors!

 Recognize the hat? That’s Josh playing with our neighbor Big Chill Fridge’s very own Brian vs. Tim and Luis! What a showdown.

 Megan and Kylie getting in on the action.

 Here comes the piñata! Josh is helping Thom set it up.

 Here comes Nikki ready to step up to the plate.

Nikki swings!

Seems Sarah was next to take a whack! Looks like the piñata is hanging by a string! Ha ha, get it? String. Oh all right.

All the presents lined up and ready to be opened!

Everyone taking inventory of the goods… shake and rattle all presents!

Sarah from Design gets to go first! Looks like she hit the jackpot with some hand sanitizer and a noise amplifier on those days when she’s hard of hearing…

Gail, our Director of Sales, Marketing, and Design opened a lovely decorative vase with glass stones. Simply lovely. Too bad Kylie our Sales go-to stole it and Gail had to open the next present which was a lint roller and adjustable bracelet… made from paper clips! Awesome find Gail!

Kylie of Sales and her brother Josh our Distribution Manager, enjoying the festivities.

Your very own, FPblog poster-helper and Web Department member, Brianna opening a lovely recycled Fresh Produce clock. Laurie seems as excited as I am. Well I did need one of those…

Kylie is helping Ashley from Customer Service work the radio computer she opened!

Our wonderful Josh opened a spinning hat and a chocolate martini set… Just what every guy needs after a long day at work! Guess that’s what happens when you work around so many women.

Our Inventory Manager, Tim has found the elusive Bop-It! A fun and classic game.

IT Gaylyn is enjoying Accounting Emily’s “Easy” Button.

Hmm… I have a feeling that present was from Gaylyn. Looks like Charles, Director of IT, can tell too.

And the best present from all day?! The snuggie, I mean it is a blanket with sleeves!

This holiday season FP decided to have an office wide food and clothing drive to help out those less fortunate in our area. What’s the best way to get everyone involved? A great competition. Our office broke up into teams labeled with our favorite FP colors; Team Citrus, Team Sangria (go team!), Team Caribbean, Team Juiced, and Team Peri. (Visit www.freshproduceclothing.com to see all the colors mentioned!)

Each team had 3 weeks to get friends, family, and everyone they knew to help them raise enough donations to win a mysterious  grand prize. We collected everything and turned away nothing. Everything from warm blankets and jackets to fun new and loved toys, and tons of bulk food items (Thanks Costco!) The toys were a huge hit in the office as they blinked and whizzed around the office bringing laughter and cheer.

It gets pretty freezing here in Boulder,CO and this year we decided our donations would partly go to the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless who are a key member of community assistanace here in Boulder. They provide several services like basic shelter amenities, mail and phone services, and transitional housing for those in danger of becoming homeless. The rest or our donations went to OUR Center in Longmont which helps the homeless pave their way back to self sufficiency by providing child care, a clothing bank, a food bank, rent, utility, and transportation assistance.

The 3 week competition was fierce and finally in the end two teams tied! Team Peri raised the most clothing with 5 huge bags and boxes full of children and women’s warm clothing, while the Team Citrus raised the most food with 7 overflowing  gigantic boxes of comfort food items. Everyone really gave all they could in this hard economic season and in the end we gathered over 23 boxes of a variety of items.

Team Peri! Left to Right – Tom, Luis, Nikki, Jean E, Megan, and Morgan.

Team Citrus! Left to Right – Cherie, Randy, Gaylyn, Katie, and Peter.

But the giving didn’t stop there! Even after was all said and done, both winning teams had won a magnificent lunch on FP and instead of taking the present, both teams paid the money forward onto both of our donation recipients! Team Peri took it another step further and also forwarded their annual FP Holiday Dinner gift cards as well!

 During November our own Thom Vernon hopped down to our Ft. Lauderdale and Naples locations to get started on some FP Painting Parties! The stores were in need of a little update in their FP color, so we took it from sweet mint green to popping bright blues and sun shining yellows! Paint wasn’t the only thing on the menu, as each store added a little more perimeter lighting to really warm up the shopping experience. The stores were lucky enough to have the enlisted help of not only their fabulous employees and our own Thom Vernon, but also some husbands! Way to go Lee Ann and Sharon for getting your handymen to help out.

Before

Our Employee/Window-Model LeeAnn Painting!

Our painter bees worked a hard 48 hours painting the entire interiors of their stores and even continued selling through the entire process! Both locations were lucky enough to never have to close their doors for the duration of the updates and actually some “live-action” modeling from Lee Ann attracted a bunch of customers wondering what all the action was about. Customers were enthralled in taking part of the makeover process and some actually stole rollers to help get those great colors on the walls!

“Most Dedicated Painter Award”

Mike, Sharon’s husband, got the official “Most Dedicated Painter Award”  after dumping an entire gallon on himself! The events helped connect all the employees and families through some good ol’ fashion hard work. Thom expressed on his return from the Painting Parties that “it was really great that it was a crew of FP employees, management, and the owner and not just some outside painting crew. It was great to get to know the staff better and it really was a rewarding team effort to get the job done as everyone played a part. I think everyone was amazed what a little paint and lighting could do.”

The Team!

 After