6 minute read
BUDSCRAFT GIVESBACK
For all the states that have legalized marijuana, Oklahoma included, the money that has been made is staggering. In the last year alone, the United States made well over three billion dollars. According to NBC News, this amount of money came from just over a dozen states and 35 have some form of legal marijuana. This money is not only from the taxes but from the dispensaries themselves giving back to the community through donation as well. One of these storefronts is BudsCraft in our very own Oklahoma.
BudsCraft has two dispensaries open, one in McAlester and the other in Henryetta (This one is brand new! It opened on December 30th of last year.). Here at Chronic, we got the opportunity to speak with James Monks, the CEO, and founder (and janitor and budtender and purchasing manager... he really has a hand in every part of his business. That is something I love to see in an owner!) Luckily, we now get to know more about the dispensaries and their mission.
Let’s begin with how James began the business in July of 2019. Before he even opened anything, he knew that growing cannabis was one of his goals. He, his wife, and his kids were actually on their way to Oregon when 788 passed.
As soon as it did, they turned around and went back to continue living in Oklahoma, the state they knew and already loved so much. During this time, James was accepted into Eastern Oklahoma State and subsequently graduated after learning all they offered about CBD plants.
It was then that James began formulating what type of business he wanted to run. He picked out many different names for his business and landed on BudsCraft. Originally, he was going to only sell seeds and help people set up their personal growth in their homes. It was then that James realized not many people were actually setting up home grows as much as he expected. But, this would not make James give up.
He and his friends still created the grow and would sell to different dispensaries around the state. While doing this, James realized that he didn’t particularly like the system that he saw. When he would come back to the dispensaries that bought from him, they didn’t advertise the growing name and would change the discussed price points. After multiple experiences like this, he decided to make his own dispensary. One that would have a focus on the grows and be centered around local cannabis.
At BudsCraft, James explained that
250 local farms are quite the accomplishment! He continued, explaining how,
meaning that every party in the sale will ultimately benefit. For James, he lives by the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground,” meaning that he is in a place to help others, he will. His ultimate goal and dispensary mission is to focus on lifting the local community up, no corporations, no brokers, just the locals to help boost the economy for those who need it.
In his dispensaries, they have TV menus and receipts that feature the names of each farm that provides the products. (I don’t know about y’all but, I haven’t many dispensaries that do that!)
Since the BudsCraft mission is to lift up others, they are very big into donations and charity in the community. At BudsCraft, they donate all of the money they get from advertisements to local charities. Additionally, they recently have rescued over 67 animals from the local shelters. They paid for all the adoption fees, microchips, spay/neuters, and flea dips, it all came to zero cost for the community.
BudsCraft also has bought 10 wigs to donate to children that have been affected by cancer, the Wig Closet program is something that James has always wanted to be a part of when he opened the business. James says,
On top of doing good work for the community, BudsCraft also has some fun with it too! They have a giant check that they like to take to the places they donate to.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when PPE masks and things like it were difficult to get, they donated $500 dollars to the police and fire departments specifically to get those difficult to get supplies. They gave $1000, for the same purpose, to the hospital for all the doctors and nurses.
BudsCraft has also helped make care packages for homeless centers containing things like socks, gloves, lip balm, and more.
This was in conjunction with a woman who gave to the Tulsa and McAlester homeless displacement camps. Along with the care packages, they did a blanket run. Over 40 new blankets were donated and more than 100 pounds of hand sanitizer and baby wipes.
The blanket run got the community involved to help the locals who need help, James said,
For James, their next goal is to host a 5k to raise money for local schools. He explained that it is fun and one of his biggest goals is to get the community and help each other. So keep an eye out, readers! We hope that, if you’ve got some time and the means, you can join Budscraft in their mission to help those around them.
