Donor Recognition
December 11, 2009 (Los Angeles)—Shelter Partnership distributed 3,500 new high quality winter coats to 15 agencies serving the homeless and unemployed throughout Los Angeles County at Shelter Partnership’s S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank in Bell, California. The coats were donated by Fashion Delivers Charitable Foundation, Inc., which undertook their “California Relief Campaign” beginning last spring, to provide donations of new clothing, shoes and other products to help homeless individuals and families in California. Shelter Partnership received more than $5 million in product donations as a result of the campaign.
Boxes of coats await pick up at the S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank.
California, home to one out of every eight Americans, has been deeply impacted by the economic crisis with record high unemployment rates of 12.2% and the largest declines in home values in the country. Southern California, experiencing America’s largest homeless population, has been hardest hit by the economic downturn, with Los Angeles County having a reported 48,000 individuals and family members homeless nightly.
“As evidenced by this week’s storms, Los Angeles can be just as cold at night as other areas of the country. These coats are wonderful for the homeless men and women recipients as well as people who are victims of our region’s economic downturn,” said Ruth Schwartz, Executive Director, Shelter Partnership, Inc.
Fashion Delivers teamed up with K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distressed Situations) for the California Relief Campaign and solicited excess new merchandise from adult and children’s industries, respectively. More than 14 companies answered the specific California appeal, including Fishman and Tobin, who donated the winter coats.
Clients of The Salvation Army’s Bell Shelter model their new coats along with Ruth Schwartz (center), executive director, Shelter Partnership; Yasmine Zdencaj, Fashion Delivers/KIDS and Stephanie Levy, product development, Fashion Delivers. Fashion Delivers was responsible for getting the coat donation.
“The Los Angeles Mission is very grateful for the wonderful donation of 300 new coats, which is just one more great example of how powerfully Shelter Partnership impacts the communities of Los Angeles. The assistance we receive, along with many other housing programs in Los Angeles County, is truly invaluable,” said Al Rossi, Gifts In Kind Manager for the Los Angeles Mission.
“Fashion Delivers began as a charitable endeavor in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and coordinates the donation and delivery of excess new products from the men’s, women’s and home furnishing industries to aid the victims of natural disasters and those in need,” said Allan Ellinger, Founder and Fashion Delivers Chairman. “The fashion industry is extremely generous and is always willing to help. Fashion Delivers is the bridge that brings hope from the donor to the recipient.
The 15 agencies participating in the coats giveaway include A Community of Friends, AFL-CIO, Southern California Alcohol and Drug Programs, Chrysalis Center, First Day Shelter,
L.A. Family Housing, Los Angeles Mission, MEND, New Directions, OPCC, PATH, SRO Housing Corporation, The Salvation Army, Union Station Foundation, and U.S. VETS.
New coats are loaded into trucks and vans at the Giveaway event.
About Shelter Partnership
Shelter Partnership provides technical assistance, planning and public policy advocacy, and resources to both the short-term and permanent housing system for the homeless in Los Angeles County. Its S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank has secured more than $162 million in new goods for distribution to agencies serving the homeless since 1989. Last year, 227 agencies received new goods at no cost.
About Fashion Delivers
Founded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Fashion Delivers is a not-for-profit organization intended to mobilize the fashion and related industries to help our neighbors. Its mission is to provide products from all parts of the fashion and related industries to victims of natural disasters and those in need. Since its inception the organization has raised nearly $43 million dollars in donations from other 500 supporting companies from the fashion and home industries.
Media Contacts Ruth Schwartz rschwartz@shelterpartnership.org 213-943-0580 or mobile 213-446-4538
Stephanie Levy stephanie@fashiondelivers.org 213-629-6700, ext. 221 or mobile 213-355-2222
Photographs There will be photographs of the event on Shelter Partnership’s website the afternoon of December 11th. www.shelterpartnership.org
