Spartanburg Interfaith Hospitality Network

This is a great video the Lutheran Church made about SPIHN. We hope you enjoy the video, and we would love to hear your comments!

Family Promise and The Company Store Partner to Bring Comfort and Warmth to Homeless Children

Summit, NJ (Jan 3, 2012) Family Promise, a national nonprofit mobilizing communities to help homeless and low-income families, and The Company Store, a leading online retailer of bedding and home accessories, announced the launch of their Buy One, Give One campaign. Until March 31st, The Company Store will match each purchase of one of their comforters with a donation of a new comforter to a child served by Family Promise Affiliates nationwide. By placing an order, the customer is automatically donating a comforter to a child in need.

Last year, Family Promise was one of several nonprofits receiving thousands of comforters through the Buy One, Give One program. This year they have been named The Company Store’s exclusive partner for the initiative.

“The Buy One, Give One initiative was so beneficial for our Affiliates last year, and we're thrilled The Company Store is expanding it even further this winter,” says Karen Olson, President of Family Promise. “A comforter is something many of us may take for granted, but it makes a big impact on the lives of the children we work with daily—not only by keeping them warm at night, but by providing them in some small way with the comfort of home at a very difficult time. The Company Store’s generosity will help us truly make a difference to thousands of families in need.”

Karen Feldmen, Director of Marketing at The Company Store, said, “Our loyal customers can participate with us in an act of kindness and generosity every time they purchase a comforter. There are a significant number of homeless children in this country who are living without a warm bed, and The Company Store is committed to bringing some comfort and warmth to children in need throughout the year, not just during the holiday season. We are pleased to deliver these comforters through Family Promise and their Affiliates in the United States.”

About Family Promise
Family Promise is the nation’s leading nonprofit committed to helping homeless and low-income families achieve lasting independence. Founded in 1986 in Summit, NJ, Family Promise today comprises 171 Affiliates across 41 states and engages 140,000 volunteers from coast to coast. The organization has served more than 400,000 people since its inception, including 50,000 last year alone. For more information about Family Promise and its programs, visit www.familypromise.org.

About The Company Store
The Company Store, known for its comfort, design and value since 1911, offers top quality, down comforters and pillows, sheets, towels, and home accessories. The Company Store sells its merchandise through catalogs and the internet at www.thecompanystore.com.

SPIHN is blessed to receive blankets from Episcopal Church of the Advent.

An annual tradition between SPIHN and the church, these blankets will be distributed to the SPIHN families once they leave the program as a welcome home gift from the church. This project titled, Spread the Warmth, has blanketed over 200 homeless people in the SPIHN program for the last three years.

For more photos, please visit our Facebook page! www.facebook.com/SPIHN

SPIHN has entered into a Facebook contest for the Chase Community Giving Grant. The top 100 votes in the contest will receive $25,000 from Chase. Chase has already donated over $15 million dollars toward charities nationwide, including $25,000 to Spartanburg Charter School during its Spring Program. The fall program benefits smaller non-profit groups (those with budgets under one million dollars per year). This would be an amazing blessing for the families at SPIHN. The contest runs from November 8th through November 22nd. SPIHN is still in the top 100, but we need your help to keep us there!

Voting is simple. Just go to http://bit.ly/vSBhw7 and "like" Chase Community Giving, then vote for SPIHN. There are six other Spartanburg charities competing in the contest, so be sure to vote for them all!

Thank you all for participating in this contest for us!

SPIHN networks with religious congregations and social service agencies throughout Spartanburg County (SC) to provide temporary shelter, food, and support to homeless families.

What SPIHN does:

* provides shelter
* provides meals
* provides training in life skills
* assists in job and housing searches

What you must do:

* be a parent with children living with you
* be drug and alcohol free
* not have a history of violent crimes
* be working or actively looking for work
* be willing to help yourself to get your family back on its feet

If your family meets the criteria, please do not hesitate to contact us (864) 597-0699. We are located at 899 S. Pine St., Spartanburg, SC 29302.