CHICAGO MERCHANDISE MART GIFT & HOME SHOWROOMS SHARE GIFTS OF THEIR SUCCESS WITH THE GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY
The 11th Annual Bag Hunger Auction, Wednesday, Oct. 27, moves to The Mart
CHICAGO (Aug. 6, 2004) — Fundraising efforts for the Greater Chicago Food Depository will receive a boost this year as the 11th Annual Bag Hunger Auction moves to the Chicago Merchandise Mart. Gift & Home showrooms within The Mart are set to support the food depository’s efforts by donating a wide range of products to the cause. Held throughout The Mart’s first-floor LuxeHome™ boutiques, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004, from 6-9:30 p.m., this year’s event features great food and innovative auction items, in an evening designed to raise awareness and funds for the fight against hunger.
Well-known Chicago chefs will join together for this one night to provide their best culinary creations and cocktails to all event attendees. A live and silent auction of nearly 200 gift packages enhances the evening, featuring everything from travel packages and sporting outings to children’s gifts, accent furniture, one-of-a-kind items, dinner certificates and pampering packs. The recipients of funds raised include Chicago’s hungry children, elderly and adults with wages insufficient to support their families. Donations made during the Bag Hunger Auction equate to four meals for every dollar spent, so contributions on this evening do make a difference in someone’s life.
Select Gift & Home showrooms at The Merchandise Mart will show their support this year by generously giving products to the event including bath and body products, candles and potpourri, artwork, tabletop, decorative accessories, holiday and garden décor. This year’s participating showrooms include:
Aldik Artificial Flowers
Ashton Company
Bette C. & Company
Caffco, Intl.
Campania
CBK, Ltd.
Christopher Radko
Country Originals
Creative Visions in Marketing
Duncan & Co.
D.W. Specialties
Enesco Group, Inc.
Excelsior Marketing
Golden Mor
Ivan Bloom Associates
Kenneth Ludwig Home Furnishings
LumiSource, Inc.
Mac McNeill & Associates
Mair Hill
Ocean Bridge
Ornaments to Remember
Pacific Rim Imports
Peterson Associates
Right Brain Enterprises
Roman, Inc.
Russ Berrie & Co.
The Encore Group, Inc.
The Finest
The Uttermost Company
Transpac Imports
United Design Corp
Vera Bradley
The mission of the Greater Chicago Food Depository is to provide food for hungry people while striving to end hunger entirely in the Chicago community. In addition to funds raised at events like Bag Hunger, the food depository distributes more than 42.3 million pounds of food annually through its network of 600 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, providing a lifeline each week for the 91,000 who depend on their food.
Through product donations, food retailers and manufacturers have a convenient, safe and reliable way to channel food that might otherwise be wasted through production overruns, labeling errors or marketing changes. All food donated to the food depository is inspected, sorted, repacked and labeled for distribution to agencies by volunteers and employees who operate out of its nearly 119,000-square-foot warehouse on Chicago’s southwest side.
For more information about the food depository, including how to volunteer, donate or purchase tickets for Bag Hunger, call 773-247-3663 or log onto www.chicagosfoodbank.org. For information on making donations to the 2004 Bag Hunger event at The Mart, contact Megy Karydes at 312-527-7608 or mkarydes@mmart.com. For more information about the Chicago Gift & Home Market,™ please call 800-677-6278 or visit www.merchandisemart.com.
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) is a trade show and property management firm, specializing in managing buildings devoted to wholesale showrooms and commercial office space. MMPI produces more than 300 trade shows, market events and conferences each year.
MMPI manages The Merchandise Mart, Chicago Apparel Center, and 33 North Dearborn in Chicago; Market Square, the Suites at Market Square, Hamilton Market, Plaza Suites, Furniture Plaza and the National Furniture Mart in High Point, N.C.; the Architects & Designers Building in New York; the L.A.
Mart in Los Angeles; and the Washington Design Center and Washington Office Center in Washington, D.C.
Vornado Realty Trust, owner of MMPI, based in New York City, is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust. Vornado’s common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and are traded under the symbol VNO.
MEDIA INQUIRIES ONLY:
Joanna Mineau
Director of Public Relations
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.
312.527.7074
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