Hot Pink Deicer, owned by Michigan landscaping and snow contractors Linda and Troy Clogg of Troy Clogg Landscape Associates, has been giving back to financially-challenged women fighting breast cancer since 2010. In that first year, the Cloggs donated $750 to a woman battling cancer in Michigan. Last year the business gave away $70,000 to families in need.
As the deicer launched with a custom blend developed by Troy Clogg, it was a natural fit to color it pink. The Cloggs say this helps with the bad reputation that salt and deicing products get in colder climates. And as the business started, Linda Clogg says giving back was also an important part of the venture.
“We knew we wanted to use our business and our skill set to create a foundation,” Linda Clogg says. “There’s no end to the need for the product and it just makes you feel good to drive around the city and see all the sites that have pink sidewalks.”
Contractors started noticing the pink deicer so the Cloggs started selling it. And since pink is the color of breast cancer awareness month in October, the stars aligned, and the business donates 15 cents for every 50-pound bag. Contractors can also buy pallets or truckloads of the deicer.
“We take 15 cents from every bag, every ton that we sell of product — bulk salts, bagged salt, everything pink and not pink. And we collect that up through the year,” she says. “Then we contact hospitals, churches and those who volunteer to be on the board and we find people who need help.”
Growth mindset
The company also expanded to sell Hot Pink Deicer in Canada (as well as the snow-prone areas of the U.S.) and Hot Pink Helpers became a 501c nonprofit in 2021. Hot Pink Helpers hosts a yearly golf outing to help more people in need. Linda Clogg says Hot Pink Helpers recently gave away $10,000 to meet the critical need of a family, whereas in years past the nonprofit would provide grants in December.
“Our goal is to help 20 families this year,” she says.
Troy Clogg said thanks to this year’s golf outing, Hot Pink Helpers will give away $135,000.
“We are all gifted with time, treasures and tanelnts,” Troy Clogg says. “We are blessed to be surrounded by so many people and companies that make a point of sharing one, two or all three of these gifts with Hot Pink Helpers — and ultimately families in need.”
Linda Clogg says she met with grant recipients and their families up until the pandemic and conducted Zoom calls through the pandemic.
“Ninety percent of these people who are recipients are single moms who were getting along just fine until this diagnosis came,” she says. “It’s been really humbling witness the recipients’ strength and to be able to, in some small way, alleviate some pressure financially and just to let them know that somebody cares.”
While many of the grant recipients live in Michigan, Clogg says Hot Pink Helpers also provided grants to families in Illinois, Pennsylvania,Wisconsin and Mexico. Clogg says the nonprofit has big goals for the future.
“It’s been a real honor and I intend to continue on and keep on rolling with this until we’re giving away a million dollars a year,” she says.
