Help Delano Nursery stay open

We've fallen on some bad luck.

This year started horribly for us. The storms at the beginning of the year, which were declared a CA state of emergency, caused our power to be out for almost a week. This interruption not only impeded customers from shopping with us (physically, there were downed power lines blocking access to our street), but we lost a ton of plants to frost due to our heaters being off. Insurance hasn't pulled through to help us, and the only SF grant programs for the storms are for actual flood damage. We somehow managed to pay our employees while we were closed.

On the subject of heating, our bills for PG&E have spiked to over $4000/month across all locations during these cold months. Regularly, we pay ~$400-$800/month to heat our greenhouses. With the impending storms that are predicted to be some of the worst to hit the Bay Area, we are nervous about what's to come.

Another unexpected added cost- one of our box trucks needs a major repair. The liftgate went out of service last week, leaving us with only one truck available for use.

We are a wholesale grower/supplier, so our customer base is a mix of plant shops, businesses that offer services, restaurants, etc. Unfortunately, we are seeing our clients close permanently at a rapid rate. On average, we are losing a client every week. Some of them have gone out of business and left us with outstanding debt. Some of our clients that are still open are severely behind on their bills, and we are working with them to slowly get paid off, but we are carrying the weight of that debt.

It's a lot for us to handle right now. We are a small business that is 3rd-generation- owned for 101 years! We operate on tight margins and pay our employees a liveable wage, so to be hit with all of this at once, our backs are pressed up against the wall. We hate to ask for help, but we are out of options.

If you are a client of ours, you can support us by shopping with us! We have a ton of new plants to replace that lost inventory and lots more on the way.

We could really use your support at this difficult time.

Love,

Lauren, John, and the Delano Crew