Furniture Bank Creates Advisory Board

October 5, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on October 2006 The National Furniture Bank Association, the home furnishings industry’s unified charitable organization, has announced the formation of the NFBA Advisory Board. The NFBA Advisory Board includes general participants and ten subcommittees: Transportation, Media, Retailers, Manufacturers, Suppliers, Representatives, Services, Designers, Conferences, and Technology.

Furniture banks are non-profit organizations which collect gently used furniture from the general public and the home furnishings industry for donation to children and families in need. Typical recipients are women and children escaping domestic violence, victims of natural disasters such as hurricanes, and working families living below the poverty line.

Subcommittee chairs are tasked with engaging their designated market segment to support the NFBA’s efforts. The NFBA Advisory Board was formed in response to requests from executives to compartmentalize specific areas of expertise within the home furnishings industry.

Phil Van Poetsch, executive director of the NFBA, said that the NFBA Advisory Board allows industry leaders to take charge of their market segment on behalf of the NFBA.

“We’re experts about how to open and operate furniture banks,” Van Poetsch said, “but we’re not experts about how retailers, transportation companies, or manufacturers can help. The Board of Directors told us to go gather an advisory board comprised of leaders across all major market segments. There has never before been such an unprecedented gathering of industry leaders pulling for a common cause.”

“This is the perfect charitable effort for the home furnishings industry,” said Ed Massood, chief operating officer of MGM Transport Corp. and chairman of the NFBA Advisory Board Transportation Subcommittee. “Furniture banks help over a hundred thousand families every year, and they create demand for new furniture purchases. It’s a win-win partnership. Everybody’s getting involved. This is very exciting.”

“The momentum behind the NFBA is really growing now,” said Steve DeHaan, executive vice president of the National Home Furnishings Association and a member of the NFBA Board of Directors. “The industry is realizing that furniture banks benefit us all because consumers wonder what to do with their existing furniture.”

Furniture banks pick up donations from consumers’ homes and provide a tax-deductible receipt. DeHaan said that the mission of the NFBA is to expand the service capacity of existing furniture banks, and to open new ones.

“Furniture banks make it easy for people to donate their used furniture, then they’re ready to purchase new furniture,” he said.

Other home furnishings industry leaders on the NFBA Board of Directors include Ray Allegrezza, editor-in-chief, Furniture/Today; Sharron Bradley, executive director, Western Home Furnishings Association; and Mary Frye, president, Home Furnishings International Association. The NFBA Ambassador is Kathy Ireland, chief executive officer of Kathy Ireland Worldwide.

NFBA Advisory Board members are Mary Ann Levitt, president of Breuners Arizona and 2006 NHFA president; Leslie Carothers, principal, The Kaleidoscope Partnership and writer of “Retail Ideas” blog, Furniture/Today online edition; Powell Slaughter, senior editor of Home Furnishings Business; Doug Kays, home furnishings industry consultant, Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate; John McCloskey, president, Profitability Consulting Group; Richard Tubman, owner, Circle Furniture; and Scott Stephens, chairman and president, Pixel Bridge.

In addition to Massood, chairman of theTransportation Subcommittee, other subcommittee chairs include: Hershel Alpert, president, Alpert’s Home Furnishings, Retailer Subcommittee; Kathy Parks, executive director, IHFRA, Representatives Subcommittee; Ralph Mosher, president, Light Check Services Inc., Supplier Subcommittee; Jeff Cook, president and CEO, Magnussen Home Furnishings, Manufacturer Subcommittee; Brian Casey, president, High Point Market Authority, Conferences Subcommittee; Janice Craig, president, J. Craig & Associates Interior Design and past president, Interior Design Society, Designers Subcommittee; co-chairs Russell Bienenstock, editor, Furniture World, and Cheminne Taylor-Smith, editor in chief, InFurniture Magazine, Media Subcommittee; and David Chisholm, COO, TrueHome,Technology Subcommittee.

The chairperson Services Subcommittee will be announced shortly, pending the nominee’s clearance to participate from their corporation.

“I urge the industry to get involved,” said Brian Casey, president, High Point Market Authority. “Be a sponsor. For so little money, who among us can say ‘no’ to the home furnishings industry’s effort to see that no child in America sleeps on the floor?”

Companies interested in corporate sponsorships can the Web site visit Help1Up.org. Sponsors will be listed on the Help1Up.org Web site, including a logo, description, and hyperlink to the sponsor’s site. Retailers’ locations are included in the “find a sponsoring retailer by zip code” feature.

Call Don Lawrence at (800) 576-0774 or e-mail to dlawrence@help1up.org to get involved.