Furniture bank creates new advisory board
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 15, 2006
Decatur, Ga. — Seven industry leaders are taking part in a new advisory board for the National Furniture Bank Assn., and another 10 are volunteering to head committees, the charitable organization said.
"We're experts on how to open and operate furniture banks, but we're not experts on how retailers, transportation companies or manufacturers can help," said Phil Van Poetsch, executive director of the NFBA. "The board of directors told us to go gather an advisory board comprised of leaders across all major market segments. There has never before been such an unprecedented gathering of industry leaders pulling for a common cause."
Furniture banks are non-profit organizations that collect gently used furniture from the public and the home furnishings industry, then donate it to children and families in need. Typical recipients are women and children escaping domestic violence, victims of natural disasters and working families living below the poverty line.
Members of the NFBA Advisory Board include Mary Ann Levitt, Breuners Arizona, Scottsdale, Ariz., and 2006 president of the National Home Furnishings Assn.; Leslie Carothers, The Kaleidoscope Partnership and writer of Furniture/Today's Retail Ideas online blog; Powell Slaughter, Home Furnishings Business; Doug Kays, Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate; John McCloskey, Profitability Consulting Group; Richard Tubman, Circle Furniture, Cambridge, Mass.; and Scott Stephens, Pixel Bridge.
Another 10 volunteers are chairing subcommittees, and are charged with engaging their market segments to support the NFBA's efforts. The subcommittees and leaders are:
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Transportation, Ed Massood, MGM Transport Corp.
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Retailer, Hershel Alpert, Alperts Home Furnishings, Seekonk, Mass.
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Representatives, Kathy Parks, International Home Furnishings Representatives Assn.
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Supplier, Ralph Mosher, Light Check Services.
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Manufacturer, Jeff Cook, Magnussen Home Furnishings.
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Conferences, Brian Casey, High Point Market Authority.
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Designers, Janice Craig, J. Craig & Associates Interior Design and past president, Interior Design Society.
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Media, co-chairs are Russell Bienenstock, Furniture World, and Cheminne Taylor-Smith, InFurniture magazine.
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Technology, David Chisholm, TrueHome.
The NFBA also said it soon will announce a chairperson of the Services Subcommittee.
"This is the perfect charitable effort for the home furnishings industry," said Massood of MGM Transport. "Furniture banks help over 100,000 families every year, and they create demand for new furniture purchases. It's a win-win partnership. Everybody's getting involved. This is very exciting."
"The momentum behind the NFBA is really growing now," said Steve DeHaan, executive vice president of the National Home Furnishings Assn. and a member of the NFBA board of directors. "The industry is realizing that furniture banks benefit us all because consumers wonder what to do with their existing furniture."
Furniture banks pick up donations from consumers' homes and provide a tax-deductible receipt. DeHaan said the NFBA's mission is to expand the service capacity of existing furniture banks, and to open new ones.
Other members of the NFBA board are Ray Allegrezza, Furniture/Today; Sharron Bradley, Western Home Furnishings Assn.; and Mary Frye, Home Furnishings International Assn. The NFBA ambassador is Kathy Ireland of Kathy Ireland Worldwide.
Information about the NFBA, including corporate sponsorship opportunities, is available online at www.Help1Up.org.
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