News & Press Releases
K.I.D.S Gets Nearly $330,000 in Product and $150,000 Grant at ABC Show;
Partner to Help At-risk Students in Las Vegas Announced
To learn how to donate new juvenile products, please click here.
September 24, 2009 (New York) — The charity Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc. (K.I.D.S.) secured nearly $330,000 worth of juvenile product at this year’s All Baby and Child Kids Expo (ABC), with show inventory donated by more than 100 generous exhibitors at the end of the Expo. The new product donations were distributed to homeless shelters, centers for abused and neglected children and other programs through the Las Vegas social services system. Much of the juvenile product was also distributed to local military bases.
“We are so grateful to ABC and the exhibitors for their ongoing support of children and families in need,” said K.I.D.S. Board Chairman Peter Rosenthal. “K.I.D.S. provides an opportunity for the industry to ‘Give Back in Brand New Ways’ as we say. The need is greater than ever before, and juvenile-related products are in high demand, especially among the populations our agencies serve.” The new product collected includes toys, blankets, baby bottles, cribs, bedding, furniture, strollers, car seats, books and other items.
K.I.D.S. also announced that they will continue providing help to military families and others in need, thanks to generous donations of juvenile products from the ABC Kids Expo exhibitors and a $150,000 grant from ABC itself. This is the fourth year in a row that ABC has provided the grant, helping K.I.D.S. to distribute over $6 million worth of donated juvenile product in that time.
“Since 2006, ABC has provided K.I.D.S. with an annual grant helping to provide over $1.5 million worth of juvenile product every year to needy families, with first priority going to families on military bases. We are proud to continue supporting their work on behalf of our industry and call on each company to follow our example,” said ABC Kids Expo Board Chairman Ken Goore.
K.I.D.S. also announced a new partnership with Communities in Schools, a national initiative that helps prevent children from dropping out of school. Chaired by Mrs. Elaine Wynn, the mission of CIS is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life. CIS brings resources into the schools to allow for integrated educational, social and health services, providing the link between educators and the community. This provides students in jeopardy of dropping out access to support services, allowing them to focus more on learning. The Las Vegas community will be the first place to benefit from product provided to CIS programs around the country.
About ABC
ABC Kids Expo (All Baby & Child), founded in March, 2003, is a non-profit public benefit corporation. The ABC Kids Expo is a partnership of juvenile products manufacturers and independent specialty store retailers organized for the purpose of promoting the children's products industry. The main objectives and purposes of the corporation are to act as a business league that helps organize and put on trade shows to be held for the benefit of juvenile products manufacturers, specialty store retailers, distributors and manufacturers' representatives of children's products.About K.I.D.S.
K.I.D.S. brings hope and self-esteem to more than 4 million children and their families each year by providing new clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books and juvenile products donated by manufacturers and retailers. The donations move through a network of nearly 1,000 local community social service agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Our efforts reach children who are challenged by poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, low literacy, military family service, major illness, incarcerated family members and disaster survival. More information about donating new children’s clothes, shoes, books, toys and other products is available online at www.KIDSdonations.org.About Communities In Schools
Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation's largest dropout prevention organization. The mission of CIS is to champion the connection of needed community resources with schools to help young people successfully learn, stay in school and prepare for life. By bringing caring adults into the schools to address children’s unmet needs, CIS provides the link between educators and the community. The result: teachers are free to teach, and students – many in jeopardy of dropping out – have the opportunity to focus on learning. More information is available online at www.csinet.org.Contact:
Lisa Goldman, K.I.D.S. 212-279-5493 x203
E-mail: lgoldman@kidsdonations.org
