Business & Tech
Selling Fudge to Support the Troops
For Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in La Grange, selling fudge (and sending it too) is just one great way to support the troops.
It's the warm letters Jean Kuhn, owner of in La Grange, gets from soldiers that have kept her working at her pet project year after year.
For six years now, Kuhn has been helping to brighten the holiday season for soldiers by sending them a special treat—namely Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's popular fudge.
It was one letter in particular that had Kuhn choked up as she read it. A soldier had sent her a letter thanking her for sending fudge to the troops, as the holiday season is particularly hard for those who must spend it away from their families. The soldier told Kuhn it brought her special memories of home.
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"It's amazing how much this fudge can mean to them," Kuhn said of the donations. "It just brings them a little something special. [The soldier] said it brought her a little bit of home."
At Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, customers can choose from 12 different varieties of fudge, and Kuhn highly recommends the peanut butter variety in particular.
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Kuhn first began the project out of her stores in La Grange and Orland Park, and it has since become so popular, the franchisor is asking all of the 250 Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores to participate this year.
"It's really cool to be able to say that we started it," Kuhn said of the program's expansion. "Even though the fudge wont be shipped until closer to the holidays, we do it over the summer when people are thinking about soldiers because of [Independence Day and Memorial Day].
When a customer buys one pound of fresh, handmade fudge from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory anytime until August 30, the store will ship one pound of fudge to soldiers overseas with the help of Operation Support Our Troops America.
According to Kuhn her stores have sent over 2,000 pounds of fudge so far, and this year, they're hoping to send over 300 pounds. Both the Orland Park store and the La Grange stores will be keeping tally boards up to show customers how close they are to their goal.
Sure sounds like one sweet way to support the troops to us.
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