Special to the
Opelika Observer
From Thanksgiving to Christmas, The Mint Julep Boutique has been actively giving back to the community and finding ways for all of their employees to get involved. During their Thanksgiving event, all employees put together boxes for Operation Christmas Child in order to provide 72 children in Burkina Faso, a land-locked country in West Africa, with toys, school supplies, and basic necessities.
In early December, Mint employees, along with some of their families, went to Walmart and purchased $3,000 worth of toys that were taken to King Honda in Opelika for Toys for Tots. They also continued their annual tradition of allowing members of their leadership team and those that have worked more than 1,000 hours to choose a charity to donate to and share why.
The boutique added an addition to that this year by allowing all other employees to enter into a drawing to potentially win money for their charity as well. This year’s charities ranged from local to national, with an audience of all kinds of people. Some of those included: the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, Good Sports, Samaritan Inn Ministry in Montgomery, Coastal Carolina Community Hurricane Relief, Bighouse Foundation and Hope for the Warriors.
The winner of the drawing was Virginia Allison, whose charity was Auburn University’s Relay for Life.
“I was part of this organization for four years while in school as Auburn University and it is such a wonderful cause. These students use so much of their time raising money while they are busy maneuvering the busy schedule of being in school,” Allison said.
Others shared their reasons for choosing their charities by saying, “My great-grandmother suffered from [Alzheimer’s] and one of my best friend’s mother passed away from early onset Alzheimer’s. She was only in her 50’s. It’s a painful disease for the person suffering as well as loved ones” and “this charity works directly with families affected by Hurricane Dorian. This cause is near and dear to my heart because of one of my close friends. Her family has a house on the island there…they have so much destruction and need as much help as they can get.”
The boutique also contributes to causes such as Tigers Unlimited, Auburn University Dance Marathon, as well as donating 3% of sales made on Black Friday to Feeding America in order for families to get meals for Thanksgiving.
“The Mint Julep Boutique has always had a heart and passion for blessing others with the blessings we’ve received ourselves. Not only is it important for us to be active members of our community, it’s also important that we help employees feel significant and give them the chance to be directly involved in helping others. Going into 2020, we are looking into partnering with even more local businesses and finding volunteer opportunities. As the company continues to grow, we want to make sure our community involvement and outreach grows as well,” one of the store’s employees said.
For more information, call 334-246-3621, like and follow their social media pages or visit www.shopthemint.com. The boutique is located at 1627 Opelika Road Suite #30.