In 2013, Core Covers provided Christmas presents and food to the Casa Hogar Santa Teresita Del Niño girls orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, where its factory is located. The Christmas drive was such a success and so popular with its employees that the company decided to partner with the orphanage on an ongoing basis. Twice a…
Since 2013, Lakeland Pools & Spas has been sponsoring a toy drive, Harrison’s Toy Box, in memory of co-owner Tracey Shauger’s son, Harrison. Harrison died in March 2013 at age 6 from congenital heart disease. Harrison spent a lot of time at Lakeland Pools making customers laugh. Each year on Harrison’s birthday, Tracey, her husband…
The Toubassi family operates two Flint Hills Spas locations — and a Great Harvest Bread franchise. Naturally, it receives frequent requests for baked goods and sandwiches, says owner Jamil Toubassi. For both companies, Toubassi tries to contribute to the community and says most small-business owners he knows do the same. Some of their favorites include…
For six years, Mike Hansen and his wife, Cynthia, were foster parents through an organization called 4Kids of South Florida. The couple, who own REC Pool & Spa in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, do business in an area of Broward County with a high population of children in need of foster homes: According to 4Kids, 188…
Aquatics Empowered Moorhead, Minnesota • Stars Year: 2010 Troy Derheim of My Aquatic Services, a company that builds and remodels pools and hot tubs, has launched a nonprofit called Aquatics Empowered. The former owner of Tubs of Fun!, a 2010 Retail Star, Derheim’s charitable efforts focus on communities or entities that have struggled with the process…
In 2015, Jack and Jennifer Bishop, Ernie Weigum and Kirk Johnson built a pool for a combat-wounded veteran in their Southern California community. The project was so well received that the group formed a 501(c)(3) called Water for a Warrior. The organization provides pools, hot tubs and swim spas to aid in wounded veterans’ therapy…
Jeanne DiPaolo’s Christmas list looked different from most people’s. Instead of gifts for herself, she gave her husband Dennis a list of charities she wanted him to support. Jeanne died of cancer in 2015, but Dennis honors her memory by giving to some of her favorite charities, like High Hopes Foundation, a nonprofit that provides…
Opened May 2018, The Spa Gallery showroom in Springfield, Missouri, may not be even a year old, but the managers have been in the hot tub industry for more than 25 years. The Spa Gallery, part of Creative Pool Concepts owned by Brad Tanzer, came about because Tanzer, along with Scott and Kelly Thomas, wanted…
At 21st Century Pools & Spas in upstate New York, now in its 39th year, every year has been a learning experience. “In large part, our market has been stagnant for a couple of decades,” says owner and founder Bob Sullivan. “We’re losing population and taxes are increasing, so we’ve had to work harder to…
“A couple of years into [owning the company], I kind of made a rule in my head that if the store made more than X amount of profit, then I would donate 10 percent of it,” says Sue Rogers, owner of Oregon Hot Tub. “I really believe that every American has the right to food…