When tragedy happens, a pot dealer is typically the last person a community expects to come to the rescue. However, when a vicious tornado ripped through central Illinois last week and caused extensive damage to dozens of homes, the proprietor of the medical marijuana company swooped in to lend a helping hand, paying to house all the victims in a nearby hotel.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Tim McGraw, CEO of Revolution Enterprises—a medical marijuana business licensed to cultivate in the small town of Delavan—paid for all of the people displaced by a recent tornado to stay in hotels until their living situation returns to some degree of normalcy.
The town’s mayor, Liz Skinner, said that at least nine homes were completely destroyed and millions of dollars of damage was incurred.
The not-yet-operational, 75,000 square-foot cultivation center owned by Revolution Enterprises was fortunate enough to escape the wrath of Thursday’s twister—a stroke of luck that ultimately prevented the company from enduring the pains of starting operations all over again.
It was for this reason—when company heads heard that the families rendered homeless by the tornado would be forced to sleep on cots at the American Legion Hall—they immediately coughed up the green from their personal accounts to pay for everyone to stay in a hotel.
Interestingly, this generous offering of community outreach comes four months before Revolution Enterprises is expected to begin generating an income. A news release issued on Friday stated that it would be October before operations were fully functional.
This kind-hearted gesture comes as no surprise to those familiar with the overall attitude of the cannabis industry. Since Colorado’s recreational pot commerce began in 2014, there have been several reports of cannabis businesses donating cash for the betterment of the state, including highway clean up programs.
