Companies exhibiting at this week’s PPAI Expo in Las Vegas have a chance to make a difference in the lives of children in low-income schools in the area and nationwide by donating excess products from their booths after the show closes on Thursday.

PPAI has supported The Kids In Need Foundation since 2007 and, every year since, has provided an opportunity for its staff and volunteers to be on the show floor at the Expo to collect extra or unneeded samples after the show closes.

Products of every kind—from pens and notebooks to stickers, drinkware, apparel and bags—are needed, as are display racks and shelving from exhibit booths. All promotional products collected will be funneled to teachers for classroom use as incentives and rewards and in programs.

Products will be collected after the show closes at 2 pm on Thursday, January 16. A donation form has been delivered to each exhibit booth and copies can be picked up from the Kids In Need table located inside all three show entrances. Exhibitors need to exchange the completed form for labels and attach them to the boxes and products to be donated. Full instructions are printed on the form. Direct questions about this program to TinaF@ppai.org.

“The PPAI Expo provides a fantastic opportunity for exhibitors to donate their remaining show samples to the Kids In Need Foundation,” says Jennifer Lehman, senior director of donor relations and gift-in-kind. Lehman is pictured above with Mary Banghart, store manager, Teacher EXCHANGE. “Our local affiliate, The Teacher Exchange, redistributes the much-needed items to students and teachers. Over the years, Expo exhibitors have donated nearly $400,000 in supplies to the Kids In Need Foundation through this post-show donation option. The Expo is a fantastic opportunity for KINF to speak to exhibitors about our year-round business solution for excess product. KINF’s donation program can solve inventory issues from misprints, overruns or retired products for exhibitors by redirecting those products into the hands of students and teachers from low-income schools. Partnering with KINF helps bridge the gap by serving as your go-to excess inventory partner.”

At The PPAI Expo 2019, exhibitors donated more than 18 pallets of promotional products, including six bikes, to KINF. The program’s goal is to exceed this donation at The PPAI Expo 2020.

The Kids In Need Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 1995, has distributed more than $1 billion in school supplies since its inception and benefitted more than six million students and nearly 200,000 teachers.

There’s also an opportunity after the show and year-round for suppliers and distributors wanting to reduce inventory, rid stock of misprints and obsolete products and clear out shelves, sample closets and showrooms to donate any kind of product to the organization. Get details at www.kinf.org.