The National Furniture Bank Association, Decatur, Ga., has announced an additional sponsorship level, “Help1Up Friend,” to accommodate individuals and corporations of all sizes wishing to get involved with furniture banks.

NFBA administers Help1Up, the home furnishings industry’s free, socially responsible, and environmentally friendly used furniture removal service for the general public. The service is made possible through a network of dozens of furniture banks across the country, which then provide the furnishings directly to families in need. Typical recipients of the used furniture are women and children escaping domestic violence, families living below the poverty line, and victims of natural disasters.

The new Help1Up Friend sponsorship is $100. Read more »

Responding to industry requests, the non-profit National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA) announced that it is offering an additional sponsorship level, Help1Up Friend, to accommodate individuals and corporations of all sizes wishing to get involved.

Help1Up is the home furnishings industry’s free, socially responsible, and environmentally friendly used furniture removal service for the general public. This service is made possible through a network of dozens of furniture banks across the country. Furniture banks collect used home furnishings from the public, give the donor a tax receipt, then provide the furnishings directly to families in need. Typical recipients of the used furniture are women and children escaping domestic violence, families living below the poverty line, and victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

The Help1Up Friend sponsorship is $100.

“We’ve had many requests from individuals asking how they can support us,” said NFBA executive director Don Lawrence. “People who become a Help1Up Friend are not only ensuring that we can keep opening more furniture banks, but they also demonstrate their commitment publicly and setting an example for others to follow.” Read more »

In the aftermath of two major floods, and following a declaration by President George W. Bush designating Westchester County a federal disaster area, a new resource has opened that provides furniture, and some much-needed hope, to those in need.

Furniture Sharehouse celebrated its official opening on April 24 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Westchester County airport where it has its base. Its warehouse is filled with gently-used furniture that will be distributed to families and individuals through social service agencies that have partnered with the Sharehouse. The furniture bank is a community project sponsored by The Junior League of Westchester on the Sound. Read more »

Kathy Ireland Worldwide, the $1.5 billion/year design and manufacture firm founded by the Lifestyle Designer whose name it bears, today (March 29) was designated first recipient of the Manufacturer of the Year Award from the furniture industry’s HELP1UP and The National Furniture Bank Association. The honor was presented at the awards breakfast launching the start of the High Point Market, one of the world’s largest furniture sales gatherings in High Point, N.C.

Ms. Ireland received the award not only for her extraordinary furniture sales success, but for her leadership in philanthropy generally, and in launching the HELP1UP program which will provide furniture to over 100,000 needy families each year.

The lifestyle designer, who was dubbed by Forbes Magazine “super-model-turned-super-mogul,” works with the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA) to initiate HELP1UP which is supported by the home furnishings industry’s retailers, manufacturers, representatives and service companies. The effort… completely free, socially responsible and environmentally friendly… provides a used furniture removal service for the general public, delivering those goods directly to families in need. Read more »

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. Read more »

The National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA), the home furnishings industry’s unified charitable organization, has launched the “Comfort and Joy” sponsorship drive. The goal of the week-long drive is to obtain 25 new sponsors before the end of the year.

Furniture banks are non-profit organizations which collect gently used furniture from the general public and the home furnishings industry, then donates it 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. The mission of the NFBA is to increase the service capacity of existing furniture banks, and to open new ones. Read more »

World Market Center, the rapidly-growing home furnishings trade complex located in downtown Las Vegas, is planning to make the holiday season brighter for several Las Vegas-based charities by planning a “Furniture Donation Day” scheduled for Thursday, October 26 at 10 a.m.

World Market Center is donating approximately 800 pieces of merchandise with a retail value in excess of $250,000. World Market Center has accumulated extensive furniture merchandise since its 2005 opening, which was originally inventory of several of the tenants in the wholesale mart building. Products being donated include nursery sets, diaper stackers, sheet sets, bed skirts, twin beds, pictures, lamps, cribs, mattresses, pillows, quilts, dressers, chairs, rugs, shelves, desks, bookcases, baskets, bunk beds, beanbags, night stands and chests.

The local beneficiaries of World Market Center’s Furniture Donation Day will include Child Haven, Safe Nest, Ronald McDonald House, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, Young Israel Aish Las Vegas and Goodwill Industries. These organizations were selected based on their immediate needs and ability to utilize the merchandise. Read more »

Responding to industry requests, the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA) and MGM Transport Corp. announced that exhibitors at High Point International Home Furnishings Market will be able to donate home furnishings directly to a local furniture bank. Emergency Interiors Furniture Bank will serve the North Carolina region, effective immediately.

The NFBA is the home furnishings industry’s unified non-profit organization, representing furniture banks throughout the country. The mission of the NFBA is to increase the service capacity of existing furniture banks, and to open new furniture banks in areas without one.

Furniture banks collect gently used home furnishings from the general public, then give it to families in need. Typical clients of furniture banks are victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina; women and children escaping domestic violence; families living below the poverty line; and thousands of others covering the whole spectrum of people in need. NFBA affiliates distribute over 1,000,000 pieces of furniture to over 100,000 families each year. Furniture banks also keep thousands of tons of used furniture out of incinerators and landfills annually. Read more »