Art Van to Give Another $1 Million to Charities
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, July 12, 2011
Art Van Elslander, center, of Art Van Furniture congratulates Art Van Award of Hope winners Maggie Varney, left, Laurie Baumer, Krista Mason and L. Brooks Patterson.
WARREN, Mich. - For the third year in a row, Art Van Furniture is giving away $1 million to Michigan nonprofit organizations that focus on children, health and human services programs.
The retailer will award grants of $5,000 to $50,000 to 50 organizations and is accepting applications through Aug. 1 on its website at www. artvan.com.
Officials also announced the new Art Van Award of Hope, recognizing the outstanding philanthropic work of four individuals who have consistently done outstanding work for their charities. The 2011 honorees are L. Brooks Patterson (Rainbow Connection), Maggie Varney (Wigs 4 Kids), Krista Mason (Benjamin's Hope) and Laurie Baumer (Ele's Place).
Each of their four charities also received an additional $5,000 grant.
In connection with this year's contributions, Art Van also has issued its Million Dollar Charity Challenge to encourage the people of Michigan to donate and maximize fundraising opportunities. With this incentive, the 2009 Art Van Million Dollar Charity Challenge donation turned into $4 million with matched challenges.
"One thing is for certain," said Art Van Elslander, chairman and founder, "regardless to how worthy a cause may be or how sincere the organization is about achieving its goals, without the proper financial resources, very little can be done. That's why this challenge is such a big deal."
The Award of Hope winners were chosen from among the 100 previous Art Van Charity Challenge recipients. At the event where the awards were announced, the remaining 96 charities also each received an additional grant of $1,000.
"We are accepting applications for another 50 deserving recipients, but that does not end the connection with the previous 100," says Gary Van Elslander, the retailer's president. "We are committed to assist long-term by providing resources that build success."
This year's 50 recipients will be awarded grants in September. In addition, all 150 charities will be given an opportunity to vie for an additional $25,000 that will be awarded to one organization.
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