Building culture of giving is blueprint for Sonoma County’s Friedman’s Home Improvement

Working with local radio station KZST, Friedman’s Home Improvement underwrites 12 commercials per year for its “We Believe” program, making it possible for local nonprofit organizations to tell their stories to a large audience where budgeting restrictions may have otherwise made this advertising impossible.

What three events or activities would you like to highlight as examples of ways your company or you have helped or continue to help make things better in the North Bay?

Friedman’s Home Improvement Golf Tournament, benefiting Schools Plus: For 27 years Friedman’s has planned and executed this annual golf tournament in support of under-funded extracurricular activities, such as music, arts and athletics, in Santa Rosa City schools. We partner with our robust vendor community, allowing us to bring in additional funds outside of our organization, generating more than $100k per year for the nonprofit.

Sonoma County’s Secret Santa Program: 30 years ago, along with a group of community volunteers and our partners KZST and the Volunteer Center, we launched this successful program to fill a need in Sonoma County. Fulfilling wishes ranging from holiday gifts and food to larger necessities like home repairs, healthcare needs and so much more for families in need, this past year the program delivered 36,000 gifts with the help of 950 volunteers.

Rebuild Northbay Foundation: Together with our vendor partners, Friedman’s supplied the fencing materials for the RiseUp project, a one-mile common fence in the Larkfield Estates and Mark West Estates neighborhoods destroyed in the Tubbs fire.

What ways does your organization help support the idea of helping others?

Friedman’s supports our team members’ various interests in supporting our local communities through donations and sponsorships to sports teams, school projects, gardens and more. We encourage all employees to volunteer with nonprofits of their choice.

How is the idea of helping others or working to solve community issues incorporated your personal life or in the company’s culture?

Friedman’s mission is to deliver the human side of home improvement. You will find this attitude not only exemplified in our stores every day but in all of our interactions with the community. Quality, committed service to our customers and our community is core to who Friedman’s is.

What inspires your employees or both about the North Bay as it relates to the spirit of helping others?

As a third-generation family-owned business, we have been engrained in the North Bay community since even before opening our first store in Petaluma in 1946. This community is home to our customers and our more than 600 employees and we are inspired by the many generous people and organizations that contribute to make it the wonderful place that it is. We are honored to be a part of this network and feel a sense of commitment to give back to a community that has provided us with so many opportunities.

How does your company's philanthropy work spill over into your personal life?

Katie Holden, leadership team administrator: Friedman’s values and culture align personally with my own in that the company is wholeheartedly dedicated to supporting our local community, which has encouraged me to volunteer and serve on the board of directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma Valley. I know this is also true for other employees. For example, our CFO serves on the board of Legal Aid Sonoma County.

Describe why you do what you do in the community in six words.

Building our community for future generations.

Why I am inspired by helping others.

Laura Sparrow, vice president of marketing: We feel that by our customers’ support and trust in us, it is our responsibility to, in turn, support our local communities in which we live and work.

How has this group helped your cause?

Chuck Fernandez, CEO of COTS: Friedman’s Home Improvement has played a large and collaborative role in supporting COTS’ (Committee on the Shelterless) mission of assisting people to transition from homelessness to a permanent home in Sonoma County. Together with the Friedman Family Foundation, Friedman’s supports our wide variety of services, including the emergency shelter serving over 118 adults every night and meal program providing over 9,000 meals every month to shelter residents and anyone experiencing hunger in Petaluma. Friedman’s also joined in to help re-open our Kids First and Family Shelter (KFFS), a 35-bed emergency shelter for children and families only that served over 48 families and 63 children in 2019.

We are very appreciative of our partnership with Friedman’s and could not do the work we do without caring community leaders like em. We thank them for all that they do for a healthier community.

Correction, Aug. 31: The headquarters for Friedman’s Home Improvement is located at 1385 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma 94954.