Each month moving vans roll out and roll in with residential real estate transactions and new residents unfamiliar to Ceres may not have any clue where to shop or find services. The Ceres Chamber of Commerce and Ceres Garden Club are teaming up for a new program of place welcoming baskets in their hands to make them feel at home while getting tips on local businesses.

Renee Ledbetter, president of the Ceres Chamber, is getting word out to Ceres businesses who are Chamber members about participating in the free "Welcome to Ceres" ambassador program. Members are urged to contribute brochures, business cards, promotional pens, magnets or any special offers or promotions which will be tucked inside the baskets to be distributed to new homeowners once per month by a Chamber ambassador. The baskets will vary in size and will be assembled by members of the Ceres Garden Club. To ensure that baskets are manageable, a business will only be represented by one piece in each basket.

The first baskets will be distributed in July. Businesses who want to be represented in the baskets must have their items in the hands of the Chamber office, 2904 Fourth Street, by the first Thursday of the month. The club will assemble and deliver the baskets on the third Thursday of each month.

"In the advertising world, visibility is credibility," said Ledbetter. "There is no better method of visibility than to have your promotion delivered by a smiling Garden Club member handing over a basket containing a plant and your business promotion."

Ledbetter said the Chamber is attempting to add more value to Chamber membership and is also considering classes for Chamber members on ways to use social media, plan a business, and build brand online.

For more information about the basket program, call the Ceres Chamber of Commerce at 537-2601 or email us at info@CeresChamber.com.