OAKLAND — Cannabis companies on Saturday are holding a celebration and fundraiser for the 8-year-old girl who was selling bottled water in San Francisco when a woman nicknamed #PermitPatty called the police on her.
The girl, Jordan Rodgers, plans to set up a water bottle stand from noon to 4 p.m. at The Pergola on Lake Merritt, 599 El Embarcadero. All proceeds and donations will go toward an education fund for the 8-year-old, according to event organizers.
Last month, Jordan was selling water near AT&T Park when Alison Ettel called police on the girl and her mother, Erin Austin, for not having a permit for the sales. A video of Ettel on the phone went viral and landed her the nickname #PermitPatty.
And this is my little cousin just so you guys can see pic.twitter.com/yQEEB8uZ2A
— la madrina ???? (@_ethiopiangold) June 23, 2018
It also damaged Ettel professionally. Cannabis businesses in San Francisco and Oakland stopped ordering products from Treatwell, a marijuana business operated by Ettel. Ettel later stepped down as CEO.
In response, cannabis dispensaries Apothecarium, Magnolia, Kind Culture are throwing Saturday’s event, donating money and purchasing the food and water Jordan will sell.
“We want this to be a positive event – a celebration of Jordan and her success as a young entrepreneur,” said Galen Pallas, CEO and founder of Kind Culture, who is organizing the event in collaboration with the Rodgers family. “My company, Kind Culture, is donating all of the food and water that Jordan will be selling – so that she will receive 100 percent of the proceeds from her sales. We also have $8,000 in donations already committed from a handful of local cannabiscompanies, including The Apothecarium and Magnolia.”
Eliot Dobris of Apothecarium said the company is donating $1,000 and all the final sales of Treatwell products to Jordan’s educational fund.
“We wanted to send a message that the cannabis community has to be inclusive and diverse. We want to support brands that live those values,” Dobris said. “We are just really excited something positive is coming out of this mess.”
Austin, Jordan’s mother, said, “Jordan and our entire family are so excited about the outpouring of support we’ve received from the cannabis community and the public at large.”
“All my daughter wanted was to sell water and have the experience of being an entrepreneur,” she said. “We are looking forward to her having the opportunity to sell water to the whole community and are grateful to everyone who is making a contribution to her educational fund.”
