Ask any one of the 175 members and they will tell you that the United Way of the Piedmont Gifts in Kind Center has been an incredible blessing!
Barely five years old, the GIKC has distributed $100 million worth of product back into the community since United Way of the Piedmont opened the center in September of 2009.
Through a unique partnership with WalMart Corporation, Exel Logistics and several national retail suppliers, the GIKC was established to provide household goods, paper products, toiletries and cleaning supplies to nonprofit organizations. Five years later, all the parties involved in the Center are celebrating $100,000,000 worth of goods invested in our community.
“It’s truly remarkable to see what has been accomplished in a short period of time, said Scott Mitchell, Gifts in Kind Center Advisory Board Chair and Spartanburg Market President for Bank of America. “The vast amount of free product that member agencies can shop for has allowed them to realign expense dollars to programmatic funding. In some cases that has amounted to $100,000 more that an agency can use to help clients.”
“Volunteers are the heart and soul of this operation,” states Scott Bryson, the Gifts in Kind Center Manager. “In the last 5 years, the dedicated men and women volunteering at the center donated more than 41,000 hours of service and those hours are valued at $826,000!” Several area companies provide volunteers on a regular basis, though local retirees comprise the majority of the workforce.”
“While volume and value fluctuate on a daily basis, the GIKC has received $22 million worth of donated product in the last 12 months,” shares United Way COO & VP of Finance Denny Boll. “Products like paper goods, personal hygiene products, bed linens, diapers, children’s toys, and household items are very useful to our partners.”
“The Gifts In Kind Center allows us to give back, and be positive and productive members of society. Volunteering is a huge part of character building, something the men here at Faith Home desperately need,“ stated Greg Gordy, Manager of Spartanburg Faith Home.
Beth Hollifield, District Five Family Ministries Case Manager and Early Interventionist with Middle Tyger Community Center, has been a member for the entire time and states “The Gift in Kind Center has made it possible for Middle Tyger Community Center to expand the availability of items distributed to our clients in need. Middle Tyger Community Center has already received over $105,000.00 worth of product for 2014! The GIKC also gives MTCC an opportunity to supply staple items for daily operations within our building, including paper products, toiletries, bedding, cleaning supplies and diapers. This has allowed us to decrease our operations budget significantly over the years. We are truly blessed to be a member of the GIKC.”