As Christmastime and winter holidays roll around the corner, Atlanta residents search through tree lots across the metro area to find the perfect tree to make their own. Grady graduate-run Trees for Tuition, with seven lots scattered throughout the city, offers customers an option to bring genuine community involvement into their holiday celebrations.
Launched in 2015, Trees for Tuition originally took shape as a simple two-man tree delivery service founded by Grady class of 2017 alumni Calder Johnson and Jack Faught as they aimed to bring in money for their future college expenses. Since then, the business has seen tremendous growth, selling over 3,000 trees into the 2025 season.
“We started out with just deliveries, raising money for our tuition,” Faught said. “Then the community was supporting us so much that we felt we should continue doing it after we graduated from college. The year before that, we sold out of trees, and we decided, ‘Okay, people really like this business. We have to keep it going.’”
The tree lots rely on a multitude of workers to operate smoothly throughout the holiday season, and many Atlanta high school and college students compete for coveted spots to work with the business, including Midtown students and alumni. Current Georgia Tech undergraduate and Midtown alumnus Charlie Suazo has worked at Trees for Tuition for four seasons and recognizes the appeal of the job to Atlanta youth.
“I definitely wanted to work here when I heard about it,” Suazo said. “I know a lot of people my age and high school students who do too. It’s a really great opportunity to get involved with our neighbors and the people in our community.”
Suazo sees that the job retains its popularity annually because knowledge about the opportunity is passed down through family and friends, creating a sought-after opportunity for Midtown teens who hear about the job from those who have worked there prior.
“I feel like it’s become a tradition that happens every year,” Suazo said. “People are encouraging their siblings to work there and also just through word of mouth at Midtown I heard people talking about it.”
Johnson feels that hiring a majority of teenage workers on their seasonal lots is one of the unique factors that sets Trees for Tuition apart, making the business unique to customers – first-time and veteran alike.
“[Teens] work across all seven of our lots,” Johnson said. “We want to hire as many teens from Midtown and other schools as possible; also college students in the area too, so people coming home for breaks can work with us.”
Longtime worker Ben Lepik has worked at Trees for Tuition’s lots for six years, and finds that working as helpers around the lots is a valuable experience for developing teens. He notes that the job is well suited for them because of flexible hours and reliable wages that fit well with their busy lives. The lots operate each season from early September through January. Until Christmastime, the business acts as a pumpkin patch for fall and Halloween decorations. Following Halloween, it transitions into selling high-quality Christmas trees, their namesake offering.
“Theres definitely so much for our teenage workers, like those from Midtown, to do around here,” Lepik said. “They can be pumpkin patch sellers and help with the Christmas tree sales and set up during the busy part of the season. We also have workers that come along with us to customers’ homes for deliveries.”
Though teen workers may be limited in the tasks that they are allowed to do as minors, employee James Grisset finds that this might also keep teen workers coming back year over year to do more diverse tasks.
“Everybody works all over, but [they] have to be 18 or older to do some specific things: the chainsaw or drive deliveries,” Grisset said. “If you’re under 18, you can do almost everything else, especially helping the customers directly. That’s what I think is most valuable for teens, to get real customer service experience.”
Working at Trees for Tuition’s lots offers students from the community more than just income. Suazo sees that he and other coworkers gain valuable people skills through interacting with a diverse range of customers. Alongside experience in sales and first-hand customer relations, the work can build skills for students’ lives.
“[Working] with real people helps make your resume look more balanced; colleges like to see genuine work experience compared to just clubs or other activities that might not be as impactful,” Suazo said. “It shows diversity. It shows that you can handle a job, something super important for being a well-rounded person or young adult.”
While the name “Trees for Tuition” reflects Johnson and Faught’s initial venture as a simple delivery service between the two of them, the meaning has grown alongside the business. Now, Trees for Tuition has funded the Trees for Tuition Scholarship since 2021. The scholarship awards $2,000 to selected applicants: Atlanta students with a unique and passionate commitment to making a positive impact on their community.
“We started our own scholarship fund so we can give back to the same community that was helping us through college at that point,” Johnson said. “We’re looking for applicants who tell us how they want to make the world a better place. So how are you going to use your college education to make a real impact?”
Even customers who didn’t choose Trees for Tuition for its mission say learning their purchase supports the scholarship fund makes them feel more tied to the community.
“I think it’s absolutely amazing what they are doing here,” first-time customer Natalie Rowe said. “I’d never heard about the scholarship before I came here, so now it feels like I’m a part of what they are doing here, with their outreach and all.”
To those scholarship recipients, the generosity of the business and its founders, coupled with knowing that they are funded by their neighborhoods, makes a world of difference. Suazo was one of the 2024 scholarship recipients and is grateful for the opportunities it has given him, but is surprised more people do not apply for it.
“I thought it would be a good resource to tap into,” Suazo said. “One day I was working with one of the owners and he told me ‘You should really consider applying, it’s just one essay question, especially since you work here.’ So I did, and I never would have expected to win it.”
Johnson and Faught together hope more applicants will apply year over year, especially as their business grows and they are able to award more scholarships to exceptional students. Johnson finds that the reach of their scholarship extends beyond just their small circle of workers and is glad that the business is able to give to those who are going to shape the future.
“We always encourage those who work here to apply,” Johnson said. “We tell the guidance counselors of the schools nearby, and we are still always getting [applications] from people who don’t work with us, which is great.”
Beyond its reach on community teens, Trees for Tuition stands out for its strong reputation in the neighborhoods they cater to, as well as the characteristic convenience they offer their customers. Priscilla Werner, a Decatur resident, says she chose to buy her family’s tree from the Trees for Tuition lot location on Arizona Avenue in Candler Park because of the location’s convenience to her home.
“[The location] is right near our house, so it’s super convenient to our family,” Werner said. “I’ve known about it and that usually they sell out fast, so we thought ‘Hey why not give it a try?’ I’m glad they had stock left because we’re always late with our tree.”
Beyond Christmas break and into January, Trees for Tuition switches gears to focus on customers who need their trees removed through their tree recycling program. The program aims to keep trees from being improperly disposed of and put them towards productive uses.
“This way, the trees don’t go to waste, we recycle them and they get chipped up for use somewhere else,” Lepik said. “It’s our way of being more conscious and helping out where we can again.”
Once the lots around the city close down for the season, the founders immediately start looking at their sales to decide the quantity of trees to source for next season, continuing the business’ sustainability. Trees for Tuition sources their trees from farms in North Carolina, carefully choosing vendors that align with their values, quality standards, and environmental commitment.
“Once we’re all wrapped up, we think about how many trees to order from the farm for next season,” Johnson said. “That way we can keep going each season, and I’m really glad it’s grown up until this point how it has.”
