Some of the biggest ideas start small and grow because people decide to keep them going.

Two Atlanta Public Schools graduates turned a side hustle into a decade-long tradition and have raised thousands of dollars for student scholarships, one Christmas tree at a time.

For some, the tree is what matters. For others, what it funds matters even more.

Best friends Jack Faught and Calder Johnson — graduates of what is now Atlanta's Midtown High School — started selling Christmas trees to help pay their college tuition.

They didn't plan a business. They planned to get by.

"We weren't sure what was going to happen after we graduated from college, you know? Because the name, Trees for Tuition. We were using the money that we made to pay for our own school," Faught said.

What started as a side hustle quickly turned into something bigger. That first year, the duo sold just 30 trees. Ten years later, they're on pace to sell more than 4,000.

Today, Trees for Tuition operates seven lots across metro Atlanta — three of them on campuses where the schools share some of the proceeds. It's even partnered with farmers in neighboring North Carolina.

"It's amazing working with the farmers we source these trees from and just supporting American farmers," Faught said. "You know, most people don't realise that these are a crop and they're grown specifically to bring Christmas joy to people's homes."

Every cut here is deliberate — and so is where the money goes. One hundred percent of the proceeds go toward scholarships for students across the Atlanta area.

The breakdown, posted on the Trees for Tuition website, is almost $165,000 donated since 2020.

"It's amazing," Calder said. "Last year, we awarded 11 students with scholarships to go to college."

The trees themselves are grown with intention.

"Live Christmas trees are grown as crops. It's not like they're going into the forest and cutting this down randomly," Calder said. "They're planting new ones every single year."

Evergreens grown on purpose, cut with care, and passed forward.

To learn more about how you can apply for a Trees for Tuition scholarship, visit the organisation's website.