Furniture banks to accept High Point Market donations
MGM Transport will help pick up goods
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 2, 2006
HIGH POINT — With the help of MGM Transport, the National Furniture Bank Assn. will accept donations of furniture from exhibitors at this month’s High Point Market. MGM will collect the donated furniture from exhibitors' showrooms.
While it appreciates all donations, the NFBA says the need is greatest for dining room tables, chairs, sofas or sofa beds, lamps, comforters and other bedding materials. All donations are tax deductible.
The NFBA represents nearly 70 furniture banks across the country. They are non-profit organizations which collect gently used furniture from the public and the home furnishings industry, and provide it to children and families in need.
Typical furniture bank clients are women and children escaping domestic violence, victims of natural disasters such as hurricanes, and working families living in poverty. The banks’ motto is that no child in America should have to sleep on the floor.
Kimberley Wray, vice president of marketing and communications for the High Point Market Authority, said that the NFBA provides a way for exhibitors to save money while doing something good for people in need.
“For many of our exhibitors, it just doesn’t make financial sense to ship display merchandise back to their warehouses,” Wray said. “Donating furniture directly to the NFBA is a win-win situation for everybody involved.” In 2005, furniture banks served 40,000 victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, but only scratched the surface. Over a year later, the NFBA still receives dozens of calls each week from families still trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of the storms’ destruction.
To donate furniture from a High Point showroom or to become a financial sponsor of the NFBA, contact Don Lawrence, NFBA vice president of communications, at dlawrence@help1up.org or (800) 576-0774. Visit www.Help1Up.org for more information or to become a corporate sponsor. The NFBA’s board of directors includes industry leaders and founders of some of the most successful furniture banks in the country. They are Ray Allegrezza, editor-in-chief, Furniture/Today; Sharron Bradley, executive director, Western Home Furnishings Assn.; Steve DeHaan, executive vice president, National Home Furnishings Assn.; Mary Frye, president, Home Furnishings International Assn.; Chuck Haas, CEO, MetroFi; Tom Polk, founder, Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta; Jeff Hay, founder, Material Assistance Providers of Columbus, Ohio; Oli Mohammed, executive director, Furniture Bank of Houston; and Carol Kane, founder, Mustard Seed of Central Florida.
Help1Up seeks donations from industry
12/19/2007Help1Up seeks donations from industry
12/23/2007Furniture Bank accepting market samples
10/18/2006Six reps named High Point Market ambassadors
07/28/2009Making a difference ...
07/11/2005
