5 months ago
AUBURN, CA - Realtor Eric Hatch has owned several businesses over the years in Auburn. Friday, he opened a new venture -- one he hopes will not only turn a profit, but help students at some of Auburn's cash-strapped schools.
School House Yogurt sits at the corner of Combie Road and Highway 49, right down the road from the schools that Hatch's five children attend.
"My wife and I are the co-presidents of the Parent Teacher Club at Cottage Hill Elementary School," Hatch said. "So, I know the P.E. programs have been cut back. The different business classes have been cut back. And every year, athletes have to bring in more and more money if they want to participate in sports."
That was the catalyst for Hatch's decision to send 12 to 15 percent of his company's proceeds to five schools -- Bear River High School, Cottage Hill Elementary School, Magnolia Intermediate School, Alta Sierra Elementary Schools and Pleasant Ridge Elementary School.
Word of his endeavor enticed Arlene Fuller to come in. "My granddaughter attends Bear River High. I'd like to help because (lack of funds from) the state of California is (forcing schools to) drop sports and the arts. I'd like to see more money going there," Fuller said.
Hatch employs two students who attend Bear River High School. He said working at the shop will help them learn how to set up and run a business when they get older.
"I like this idea," Bear River senior Justin Chirigotis said. "I'd like to see some money go to the teachers. Some of them have been laid off. We also need money for academics."
Recent Bear River graduate Lindsey Smith is also working at the shop. "I want to make enough money here so I can go to school at Sierra College. I want to become a teacher," Smith said.
She'd liked to see her alma mater use money from the shop for science books.
"In some of our science classes, (we) didn't get the hardbound copies of the books," Smith said. "We had the softcovers and they would get torn up in our backpacks."
The shop allows customers to serve themselves a variety of yogurt flavors. They can also choose from about two dozen toppings, including strawberries, cheesecake chunks, nuts and crushed Oreo cookies.
Hatch hopes more customers will try his tasty frozen treats, satisfy their sweet tooth and help pull area schools out of a deep financial freeze. "We're trying to get the schools as much money as we can," Hatch said.
By Karen Massie kmassie@news10.net
News10/KXTV
