Rooms To Go Celebrates Opening of NFBA’s New Orleans Furniture Bank

March 15, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 2007 Rooms To Go and the non-profit National Furniture Bank Association will hold an event Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of the New Orleans Furniture Bank.

Saturday morning, Rooms To Go will deliver a houseful of new furniture to a Veronica Smith, a single mother of four, whose home in Kenner, La., was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

At 4 p.m., Cindy Crawford will make an appearance for a celebration of the new furniture bank at the Rooms To Go store in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. Also in attendance will be executives from Rooms To Go, the National Furniture Bank Association, the New Orleans Furniture Bank, and Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The purpose of the event is to explain the assistance Rooms To Go is providing to families in need; the ongoing efforts of the National Furniture Bank Association; and the mission of the New Orleans Furniture Bank.

The NFBA administers Help1Up, the completely free, socially responsible and environmentally friendly used furniture removal service for the general public. Made possible through a network of dozens of furniture banks across the country, people wishing to dispose of their gently used furniture make an appointment for a pick up, and are given a tax-deductible receipt. The furniture bank then directly provides the furniture to families in need.

Furniture banks in America provide used furniture to over 100,000 families each year. Typical clients of furniture banks are victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, mothers and children escaping domestic violence, and working families living below the poverty line.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Rooms To Go has donated 4,000 complete rooms of furniture to the National Furniture Bank Association. The furniture was shipped free of charge to furniture banks serving Hurricane evacuees in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas, Texas; Orlando Fla., and Augusta Ga.

Rooms To Go is devoting a portion of sales on Saturday, March 17, to the New Orleans Furniture Bank, which quietly opened its doors in February.