May 16, 2024
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Proven Winners in DeKalb pitches in effort to help Ukraine

By Daily Chronicle staff report
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce staff, ambassadors and board members, along with community members, recently celebrated the new headquarters for Proven Winners with a ribbon-cutting. The plant brand business is located at 1600 E. Lincoln Highway, Suite F, in DeKalb. Proven Winners works to refine and improve offerings for the North American garden and aid the nursery industry in using the best in new plant and production materials. To learn more, visit www.provenwinners.com or call 815-762-1230.

File photo - DeKalb Chamber of Commerce staff, ambassadors and board members, along with community members, recently celebrated the new headquarters for Proven Winners with a ribbon-cutting. The plant brand business is located at 1600 E. Lincoln Highway, Suite F, in DeKalb. (Photo provided by DeKalb Chamber of Commerce) (Photo provided)

DeKALB - Proven Winners, a DeKalb-based company that operates as a nursery, landscaping and gardening center, recently collaborated with its international partner to buy a truck to help transport supplies in Poland to Ukraine.

The supplies will go toward Ukrainians amid a war with Russia after Russian forces invaded the country a month ago. The invasion has spawned a number of humanitarian relief efforts across the globe, the latest with its own DeKalb connection.

The Polish branch of Proven Winners, called Plantpol, has a production facility in Ukraine, said Marshall Dirks, director of marketing and public relations for Proven Winners. The company’s staff reached out to Proven Winners’ worldwide network to see what they could do to help.

“They just do not have the vehicles and equipment necessary to move supplies and do things behind the scenes,” Dirks said. “We, of course, all pitched in and have been overwhelmed by the response. It is all about just raising awareness.”

As a result of the inter-company ask, Proven Winners branches throughout the globe pooled money to buy a utility truck. Plantpol itself is less than 200 miles west of the Ukrainian border. Truck prices to transport relief aid and refugees have increased dramatically because of demand from Ukraine, Dirks said.

“Their staff wanted to do something to help the Ukrainian army, so they reached out to all the European Proven Winners members and suggested they purchase a truck or two for transporting troops or supplies as needed,” Dirks said.

PlantPol had to receive an official permit from the Ukrainian army to take the truck across the border. Dirks said the DeKalb branch pitched it to help finance the vehicle.

“We take no credit in thinking of it,” Dirks said. “All we are doing is responding to a plea that has been put in our lap. It was not us seeking donations from our employees. It was just saying what we were doing as a corporation in response to a partner that we have had in Poland for 20-plus years.”

Dirks said the company is working on buying a second supply truck for the war effort.





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