Nonprofits Get “Stimulus Package” from San Francisco International Gift Fair®
San Francisco, CA — Like the song says, “you gotta’ have friends.” From February 7—10, two San Francisco nonprofits – the San Francisco Food Bank and Under One Roof have something to sing about as the annual San Francisco International Gift Fair® returns to the Moscone Convention Center with doors and arms open with its ongoing charitable partnership program. Fair attendees are asked to donate food items to the Food Bank via the bright green barrels inside the lobby of the Moscone Convention Center lobby and receive a $7 transportation rebate. At the end of the Fair, exhibitors donate thousands of dollars worth of merchandise to Under One Roof – the world’s first retail outlet for AIDS/HIV relief – which then is sold at the store’s Castro district location.
“We hope that many of our exhibitors and attendees will join us in supporting these two home-town charities, part of the San Francisco model of nonprofit leadership,” said San Francisco International Gift Fair Show Director Aubin Wilson. “This really is an opportunity to give a gift that gives twice.”
“We appreciate the generous support that will help us feed hungry people in San Francisco,” said San Francisco Food Bank Development Director Christopher Wiley. “Even in our beautiful City by the Bay, hunger frequently strikes working poor people who help make our city’s tourist economy thrive. Over 60% of the households who receive weekly groceries through the Food Bank include at least one working adult. To someone in need, food provides more than nutrition — it provides hope, dignity and respect.” Attendees who are unable to bring food items are encouraged to make a monetary donation to the Gift Fair, or to use a portion of their rebate as a donation to the Food Bank. A single dollar donation translates into the Food Bank being able to purchase nine dollars worth of food.
“It just goes to show you how good it is to shop,” said Mark Burns, Under One Roof Executive Director. “Through our ongoing partnership with the San Francisco International Gift Fair, we are able to generate meaningful profits that contribute to important education and support programs in the Bay Area’s HIV community.”
Under One Roof is the only non-profit retail store of its kind in the entire world, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for San Francisco Bay Area men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS. Under One Roof inspires and unites community volunteers, donors, staff, sponsors and merchant supporters to support of our common cause: generating unrestricted funds for non-profit agencies that provide HIV/AIDS education and support services, including promoting positive, healthy lifestyles. Since 1990, Under One Roof has donated more than $4 million in unrestricted funds to approximately 30 participating San Francisco Bay Area HIV/AIDS service organizations (“ASOs”). As the AIDS epidemic changes and public funding sources diminish, Under One Roof’s mission has become more critical than ever.
On Sunday, February 8, from 6:30pm ’til 8:30pm, the San Francisco International Gift Fair will host a party at Under One Roof to salute both is nonprofit partners. Award-winning Brandy Ho’s, the classic San Francisco restaurant which introduced Hunan cuisine to the United States, provides a delicious array with wine courtesy of Cloverdale’s William Gordon Vineyards. Complimentary round-trip bus service will be provided between the Moscone Center and Under One Roof.
The semi-annual San Francisco International Gift Fair® is managed by GLM®, a dmg world media business. The Winter 2009 San Francisco International Gift Fair® will take place February 7 — 10 at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. Exhibitors seeking information should contact show director Aubin Wilson at (213) 430-2310; awilson@glmshows.com. Attendee information may be obtained by contacting GLM Customer Relations at (800) 272-SHOW (7469) or (603) 665-7524.
About the San Francisco Food Bank:
The San Francisco Food Bank collects millions of pounds of food from growers, packers, processors, manufacturers, the USDA and grocery stores. This can include test-marketed products, items close to code date, produce that is the wrong shape or size for conventional markets and excess. Food drives are an important source of variety. The Food Bank trucks donated food to its warehouse. Multiple tractor trailer loads of produce come in through the week – these precious, highly perishable items get moved through the warehouse within 24 hours. Volunteers sort, repack and shelve almost 300 tons of food at the warehouse every week, doing the work of what would be assigned to 36 full-time employees. At any given time, the Food Bank has around two million pounds of food in its warehouse. The San Francisco Food Bank delivers food to over 600 community food programs including 191 neighborhood pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers, homeless shelters and youth programs. Visitors to these neighborhood pantries select food at weekly farmers’ market-style distributions to cook at home. Food from the Food Bank is also prepared at soup kitchens and packaged into bag lunches for school and summer programs. In all, the San Francisco Food Bank serves over 132,000 people each year.
About Under One Roof:
The history of Under One Roof begins in 1990 when a group of friends, wanting to stop the epidemic ravaging their community, joined together to create a small retail shop, the proceeds from which they would give to local AIDS service organizations (ASOs). They occupied a little corner of the Names Project’s storefront on Market Street in San Francisco, for the holiday season. Customers were thrilled that they were able to give support to the fight against AIDS simply by giving gifts, and by so doing, raising funds for their friends and loved ones. And so began an enduring Under One Roof gift giving tradition – “giving the gift that gives twice.” Two years later, Under One Roof opened a year-round store, dedicated to providing unrestricted funding to AIDS Service Organizations that had limited internal fund-raising capabilities.
