Donor Recognition
LOS ANGELES, CA – Shelter Partnership, which maintains the nation’s largest warehouse of new products donated by manufacturers and retailers and gives those products, free of charge, to Los Angeles area agencies serving the homeless, has announced that the warehouse will be named The S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank. The S. Mark Taper Foundation has donated $850,000 to up-grade the facility. The S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank naming will be celebrated, at 5600 Rickenbacker Road in Bell, during an open house on Wednesday, October 15, 2008. The open house takes place from 11:30 to 1:30 and features lunch as well as tours of the facility.
Shelter Partnership’s Resource Bank receives new, donated goods from hundreds of corporations ranging from Aaron Brothers to Warner Brothers. In 2007-8, the facility received and distributed more than $10 million worth of goods, including mattresses, toys, clothing, winter wear, educational materials and school supplies, toiletries and shoes. All of these products are distributed at no cost to more than 200 agencies in Los Angeles County.
““For many years we have consistently made numerous modest donations to many different agencies and organizations that use Shelter Partnership’s Resource Bank,” says Ray Reisler, Executive Director of the S. Mark Taper Foundation, “but Shelter Partnership’s exceptionally effective and efficient program presented us with the opportunity to make one large grant that would help serve all our previous grantees and dozens more. When these agencies get essential goods from the S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank, their limited financial resources are freed to engage in other vital work. Thus, our donation leverages the capacity of nonprofit organizations that assist thousands of people who face the despair of poverty and homelessness.”
The donated products make an enormous difference in the lives of thousands in need, according to Ruth Schwartz, founder and Executive Director of Shelter Partnership. “At the S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank, goods come in and good goes out,” she says. “Los Angeles has the largest homeless population in the U.S. Helping those seeking to overcome life on the streets can be overwhelming to even the most seasoned and efficient shelters and social service agencies. Three or four cases of toothbrushes or several dozen boxes of shoes can have a significant impact for homeless agencies and those they serve. The arrival of desperately needed clothing or toiletries or bedding is certainly welcome to those in need, but the real impact may well be the message those goods carry – people really care and care enough to help.”
The S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank is located in Bell, CA, in warehouse space on a former Air Force base. Shelter Partnership manages the facility with a modest staff, employing five individuals who catalog all the donated goods, maintain a full and comprehensive inventory and handle distribution of the goods to hundreds of area agencies. Distribution takes place on a quarterly basis; donations arrive at the facility throughout the year. Shelter Partnership recently acquired ownership of the warehouse under a federal program which allows nonprofits to secure surplus property from the U.S. government at no cost.
The Resource Bank began when Shelter Partnership received a donation of several hundred new raincoats, which Ms. Schwartz stored in her car and distributed to agencies as time permitted.
“Since then, we’ve grown from a warehouse of 30,000 square feet to the 108,000 square foot S. Mark Taper Foundation Shelter Resource Bank.” she says. “The support of The S. Mark Taper Foundation brings our capital campaign to $2.5 million, with another $2 million to be raised. We’re well on our way to modernizing the facility and updating our systems so we can manage and distribute the donations more efficiently. That insures that this remarkable program will grow and continue to serve those in need.”
