November 2007 - Exhibiting Kindness: From ISSA Today Magazine

From ISSA Today Magazine, Post Convention 2007, p. 32:

ISSA/INTERCLEAN® exhibitors have come through again! Household and cleaning products valued at more than US $82,000 were donated in October to Florida charities by the exhibitors attending ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2007. No fewer than 26 pallets of donated mops, brooms, furniture, light bulbs, plants and cleaning and sanitation supplies and chemicals will be distributed by the Heart of Florida United Way (HFUW) to its 40-plus agencies in the Orlando area. The donation program was sponsored by the ISSA Foundation and managed by Gifts In Kind International.

Exhibitor Benefits:
Exhibitors at the show said that donating products through Gifts In Kind is a convenient and positive way to dispose of their exhibit items and avoid the time and expense of repacking and shipping. Most donors get a tax benefit for donating their products—a process that is also managed by Gifts In Kind.

"Our owners love to give to causes," stated Andrew Gross, national sales manager of Howard Berger Co., which donated all its booth products at the close of the show. "This is an extension of what the company does."

Tim Hodges, vice president of sales for The O'Dell Corp., concurred, saying that the donation program is "convenient for us and it's for a good cause." O'Dell also donated a major portion of its booth items after the show.

The recipient of donations from this year's show—The HFUW's Gifts In Kind Center—serves more that 40 health and human services agencies in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties in the Orlando area. "This donation will allow our member agencies to target more of their funds toward direct services for their clients, instead of having to purchase so many of the cleaning supplies they use daily," noted Carlo DeTommaso, HFUW's Gifts In Kind Center coordinator.

Staff from HFUW and Gifts In Kind as well as 31 volunteers gathered donated items from more than 89 vendors at the show.

ISSA and the ISSA Foundation have promoted tradeshow donations through Gifts In Kind at the North American ISSA/INTERCLEAN tradeshows since 2002. In addition, for more than 10 years, the foundation has partnered with Gifts In Kind to promote year-round donation programs as well as manage disaster-relief efforts for its members.

About Gifts In Kind International:
www.giftsinkind.org
Ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the nation's best-managed charities—Gifts In Kind—works to enhance, empower, and restore communities in need by generating and distributing corporate product donations through its network of more that 150,000 pre-qualified nonprofit organizations that are doing important work around the world.

ISSA offers a special thank you to all the exhibitors that donated at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2007: