Page 49 - AmericasMart: Market Magazine July 2018

Around the globe there are people in need. There are many ways to help, including choosing to do business with vendors who are committed to philanthropic endeavors. By working with these companies, you enhance a connection to your own customers, who are increasingly interested
She needed volunteers on the ground
in Louisiana who could vet applicants, organize inventory and schedule pick-ups. Someone connected her with Volunteers of America who jumped on board to
help. “What I was asking them to do was massive,” Leander recalls. But no one knew quite how massive until the industry she had marshaled responded with enormous generosity.
Numerous furniture manufacturers contributed goods. Freight companies donated trucks; drivers volunteered
to transport loads. By the time it was over, North Carolina-based Caracole had amassed $1.5 million in donated goods and services. Seven truckloads of merchandise arrived, and furniture was distributed to 1,000 people.
“These people had lost everything, but they didn’t ask for much— a bed, a table so they could sit down to eat—
just enough to get back in their homes.”
TRICHE LEANDER
It was a moving experience. One gentleman had asked only for a bed. Once it was loaded into a truck, he turned around, offered hugs and started crying on the dock. “He was so grateful that he
simply would have a bed to sleep on,” says Leander. “These people had lost everything, but they didn’t ask for much— a bed, a table so they could sit down
to eat—just enough to get back in their homes.”
This amazing success story was just the beginning of this endeavor. Next came Hurricane Harvey. Then Irma. As the news of the Lone Star state devastation hit, Leander says, “Employees showed up at my door and asked, ‘When are we going to Texas?’” Once again they mobilized
the industry. Vanguard Furniture had an innovative response, inspiring vendors
to donate materials and setting up a special weekend work event. Seventy workers showed up to make furniture for the victims. Working through Volunteers of America chapters in Texas and Florida, by March 2018, Caracole will have coordinated delivery of an additional
$2 million in goods and services for the victims in those states.
“People want to feel like the companies they do business with are part of and care about the community,” says Leander.
“I want you to know this was a team effort by the people at Caracole. It may have started with me, but we have
70 employees who have embraced this cause and it wouldn’t have happened without them.” >
in buying from businesses that make world a better place. Here’s a look at different approaches that are helping victims of flooding and hurricanes, assisting wounded veterans and supplying clean water to Africa.
the three
Caracole furnishes disaster relief to flood victims
In August 2016 a three-day storm dumped 20 to 30 inches of water on
East Baton Rouge, La., and nearby parishes. Thirteen people died and
an estimated 200,000 homes and 10,000 businesses were flooded. Only 15 percent of the homes had flood insurance.
Triche Leander, chief operating officer
at high style furniture company Caracole, was dumbfounded. Baton Rouge is her hometown, and it seemed no one was taking action. People were investing all their savings into rebuilding their homes and had no funds to purchase furnishings.
Leander took matters into her own hands. She enlisted the help of her employees, and they began working the phones. She needed furniture, trucks, a website,
a warehouse and a distribution system.
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