For the 13th year, volunteers and staff from the Kids In Need Foundation were onsite at The PPAI Expo in Las Vegas in January to collect donated products and samples from exhibitors after the show. The opportunity to donate was available to every exhibitor and this year’s goal was to beat last year’s 18 pallets of donated products.

This year, the team harvested a record 22 pallets, including five new bikes. The donated products were redistributed to local, low-income schools. Supplier alphabroder generously provided the logoed t-shirts worn by the Kids In Need team at the Expo.

Organizers reported that what pushed donations over the top were 500 tote bags filled with supplies for teachers, including products from BIC Graphic, Dixon Ticonderoga, BEBCO, Vera Bradley and 3M. The bags were assembled during an evening networking event and community service project sponsored by SPARK, PPAI’s network for young industry professionals. During the event, 90 participants spent just 13 minutes and 48 seconds assembling the bags that were later donated to Kids In Need to benefit teachers at low-income schools in Nevada’s Clark County.

Since PPAI began supporting The Kids In Need Foundation’s Expo participation in 2008, generous exhibitors have donated nearly $400,000 in products to the organization.

Fifty exhibitors contributed to the product harvest this year, including business services company Essent, which donated a TV and furniture from its booth. The donations help Essent not only give to a great cause but help reduce its carbon footprint. Rather than ship a booth across the country and back, Essent purchases items closer to the show and then donates them to a local organization that can use them. It’s the second consecutive year that Essent has donated to the foundation.

“When we were looking for innovative ways to improve our show logistics and we learned of the opportunity to donate to Kids In Need, it was a perfect fit,” says Essent Marketing Coordinator Doug Brill, who manages Essent trade shows. “Children benefit, the environment benefits, and from a bottom-line perspective, the donation is more cost-effective than storing and shipping the booth time after time and year after year. It’s a win-win-win.”

PPAI thanks alphabroder, Essent and all the following exhibitors that contributed generously to this year’s Kids In Need product harvest following the Expo including:
Ad-A-Day Co., Inc.
Allen Advertising Products, Inc.
Aloe Up Suncare Products
Alpi International, Ltd.
Anagram International
ATMOS GREEN LLC
Bentcil Company
Best Way Promotions
BIC Graphic NA
Bontius Co.
Citizen Watch America
CleggPromo
Coloring Book Solutions
commonsku
Disrupt Sports
Empire Pen
ENVASES Y PRODUCTOS ESPECIALES SA DE CV
Epic Popcorn
Escalade Sports
Games People Play
Gibco, Inc.
Gibson Overseas, Inc.
Global Glove
Gold Bond, Inc.
High Caliber Line
Illini/Altco
Kent Bicycles
Kingly Inc.
Maple Ridge Farms, Inc.
Melissa & Doug LLC
Milano Worldwide Corp.
OrderMyGear
Promotional Product Professionals of Canada
Rainbow Symphony, Inc.
Royal Crest Promotions
SAGE
Shop-Vac Corporation
Skinner & Kennedy Co.
Sofia's Cookies
Stickerbeat
Strax Americas, Inc
The Lazy Dog Co
The Magnet Guys
The Northwest Company
The Stadium Chair Co., LLC
The United States Playing Card Company
Water Promotions
Way On Promotions, Inc
Wonderland Promo Inc

Year round, the Kids In Need Foundation helps suppliers and distributors solve inventory overload caused by misprints, overruns and out-of-date products by accepting unneeded products in all categories for redistribution to students and teachers at low-income schools. Find the donation form and details at www.kinf.org.