UPDATE Thank you to all our customers and vendors that participated in raising funds for local food banks in our communities. Together we raised $11,861! We’ll be sending checks to the organizations listed below at the end of this month. Thank you again for using your business to help people in your communities.

Our core purpose is to provide people the opportunity to use their business for a greater purpose, in other words, to see their business as a mission to serve others.

As many businesses and families are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown, we believe now is the time to think creatively and try new ways to meet that goal.

We have decided to turn this week (April 13th – 17th) into a Food Pantry Giving Week. We’ll be taking a portion of proceeds from all sales this week and donating to local food banks in each of the cities we have a location in.

We’re also inviting our vendor partners to participate and will have an easy way for our customers who are able and willing to add a donation of whatever size they like to their invoice this week that will go straight to their local food pantry.

The reality is many of our flooring businesses (ours included) are seeing significant slow downs. However, many of us are qualified as exempt and essential businesses that are allowed to keep operating. We feel a sense of responsibility to send some assistance to those most in need while we are able to continue supplying the commercial and residential flooring industry.

Why give to food banks?

As we have seen unbelievable records in unemployment set during the last few weeks, the demand on local food banks is unprecedented and many are struggling to keep up.

• Food banks often rely on excess food donated from local restaurants who are now shutdown or operating on a limited basis.
• Local food drives rely on churches, sporting events, 5K races, and other community gatherings that are no longer an option right now.
• These organizations also need volunteers that are much more difficult to find as we are all doing our best to practice social distancing.

All of this means that the most vulnerable, and many who never would have needed to rely on a local food pantry are at risk of going hungry. We hope to take a small step in each of our local communities to help meet some of that need.

Which organizations are we giving to?

We have researched and located the primary food banks in each of our local communities. Feeding America, a hunger relief organization, provides a list of local food banks that are active, responsible, and are accepting donations. We’ll be sending a check to each of these organizations by the end of April:

• NW Arkansas Food Bank https://www.nwafoodbank.org
• Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma https://www.regionalfoodbank.org
• Central Texas Food Bank https://www.centraltexasfoodbank.org
• North Texas Food Bank https://ntfb.org
• Houston Food Bank https://www.houstonfoodbank.org
• Kansas City Harvesters Community Food Network https://www.harvesters.org
• Omaha Food Bank for the Heartland https://foodbankheartland.org
• Cedar Rapids HACAP Food Reservoir https://www.hacap.org
• St. Louis Area Food Bank https://stlfoodbank.org
• Denver Food Bank of the Rockies https://www.foodbankrockies.org
• West Plains Samaritan Outreach Center http://samaritanoutreachcenter.com

How to participate

For any order invoiced from April 13 – 17th (even existing orders in our system), we will donate a portion of our proceeds to the local food bank in our cities.

We will also be able to add a donation amount for you to any order that will be invoiced this week. Just ask your order desk or Business Development Manager to add any amount of your choosing to an order that will be picked up and invoiced this week. These orders should be paid for via cash, check or credit card. If you are an on-account customer, a separate pre-paid order can be made and paid for in order for the donation to be made.

Several of our vendor partners will be participating and will be making donations along with us. We want to thank these vendors for partnering with us to give to food banks in each of our local cities.

• Norton Abrasives
• PanTim
• Basic Coatings
• Mapei
• DuraSeal
• Middle Tennessee
• Glitsa
• Pallmann
• Loba-Wakol
• Graf Custom Hardwood
• PoloPlaz
• Artistic Finishes

We will be sending e-mail and text reminders this week, and will follow up with the total amounts raised next week.