What do nursing homes and beehives have in common? More than you might suspect. There is a buzz surrounding The King’s Daughters and Sons Home and it stems from a unique friendship with the beekeepers at Bee 901 Co. that has already borne fruit … or in this case, honey.
“There’s a sense of connection between the company and our nursing homes,” said Nicole Wiles, an administrator for The King’s Daughters and Sons Home. “In general, [Bee 901 Co.] relates everything back to busy bees as selfless hard workers. If they all work together, they build something beautiful.”
The partnership began six years ago after Bee 901 Co. founders Nathan Bland and Kevin Woods made their first visit to the community with a gift: a check. The company donates 100% of its honey sales to charity and The King’s Daughters and Sons Home was first on their list thanks to some prior volunteer experience there. Since then, the facility has received a check from the organization every year. In total, the donations to it have amounted to more than $46,000 and it has been put to good use, from buying a new transportation van to providing a customized wheelchair for a resident.
“The first year they started out, the check that they gave us was $2,400. Each year it went up an extra thousand [dollars] and just increased every year. They really enjoyed seeing what their money could do to affect the residents,” said Wiles. “There was a gentleman that they got to know when they were visiting the church services and he is a Medicaid resident. He really needed a customized wheelchair because of his disease progression but Medicaid wouldn’t pay for a customized wheelchair. And so the funding that year went towards getting him a chair.”
Watching Bee 901 Co. take flight over the years has been a wonderful experience, says Wiles. She believes its story will inspire others to share a little sweetness with the rest of our hive.
“I think their journey is an incredible story. They started with basically nothing and you can see how it has grown so much and impacted the community each year,” said Wiles. “As they say, the hive is like humanity. If we all work together, we could thrive.”
