Bedding industry contributing to Haiti relief
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 1, 2010
HIGH POINT —
The mattress industry, which has a history of responding to natural disasters with aid for victims, is gearing up to help provide relief in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
A major effort is being mounted by Anatomic Global, the Corona, Calif.-based memory foam producer, which has teamed up with its key suppliers in a campaign to produce thousands of its “WorldBed” products for shipment to Haiti.
The campaign has already seen delivery of 500 WorldBeds to a clinic in Jacmel in southern Haiti. Another 500 were due to be shipped last week, and thousands more will follow, according to officials at Anatomic Global. The company's goal: To produce 200,000 beds for Haiti.
The specially designed cot-sized mattresses are made of memory foam and conventional foam and encased in a nylon and vinyl cover. Each WorldBed has a carry strap so it can be rolled and carried over one's shoulder, a feature that anticipates the camp and migration issues expected to face survivors of the earthquake in Haiti, the company said.
Joining Anatomic Global in this effort are key suppliers FXI Foamex Innovations, UPS, Deslee Textiles, Royal Packaging and the Brookwood Cos. This is the second time that group has banded together to produce the WorldBed; the first time was in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The group is working with Parakletos International, a national cooperative effort of the Calvary Chapel Churches, to deliver the beds.
“There has never been concentrated destruction and human tragedy of the scale seen in Haiti,” said David Farley, CEO of Anatomic Global. “We learned from our Katrina relief effort that in the early stages of a disaster, there are very specific sleep surface needs that align with FEMA's sustainable disaster relief phases that displaced persons require, and we wanted to use that expertise to help — and do it quickly. This effort is part of Anatomic Global's corporate genetic code and we are grateful to our business partners who share this responsibility with us.”
Anatomic Global said it is re-investing its corporate profits from all operations in the first quarter of the year in the campaign to produce WorldBeds for Haiti.
Also stepping up is GBS Enterprises, a furniture and mattress warranty supplier that has donated $5,000 to Haiti relief efforts. “After hearing that one of our employees had a family member in the Miami area organizing an airlift, I thought $5,000 would buy some staples in a time of real need,” said Mike Svoboda, CEO of GBS, who noted that his company has been involved in a number of humanitarian efforts over the years.
“We have been blessed with wonderful retail support and substantial business growth within the home furnishings industry over the past few years and continue to give back where we can in various ways,” added Dave Powers, president of GBS.
And the International Sleep Products Assn. announced last week its ISPAid initiative of disaster relief for Haiti. ISPA identified a number of relief organizations seeking donations for Haiti, including the American Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund and Habitat for Humanity, among others.
ISPA also said it is exploring other ways that the mattress industry can help contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti.
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