Seattle Companies Lead The Charge To Ensure NO CHILD SLEEPS OUTSIDE This Winter

CONTACT: Jasmine Donovan
(206) 877-2101
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Dick’s Drive-In, evo, Vulcan Inc., The Space Needle/Seattle Hospitality Group, Evolution
Projects, and the Harrelson family team together with the Seahawks Women’s
Association to launch a unique online crowdfunding campaign to benefit Mary’s Place
SEATTLE – Nov. 12, 2014 – The weather has turned cold, wet and dark and 550 families, mostly single mothers and children, have no safe place to sleep this winter. The Seahawks Women’s Association and Dick’s have been long-time supporters of Mary’s Place, an organization providing day and night shelter for homeless women, children, and families, but both organizations wanted to do more. This year they are teaming up with Seattle’s leading companies including, evo, The Harrelson family, The Space Needle/Seattle Hospitality Group, Vulcan Inc. and Evolution Projects to launch an online crowdfunding campaign with over $40,000 in initial donations.

The campaign kicks off today, November 12th and runs to December 23rd. Everyone can help ensure that No Child Sleeps Outside this winter just by going to www.crowdrise.com/nochildsleepsoutsideseattle from any mobile device or computer.

The campaign goal of $250,000 will allow Mary’s Place to quickly open a crisis-response winter night shelter to bring inside more Seattle families without a safe, dry warm place to sleep. Donations of any size are welcome.

“We cannot imagine our children or grandchildren being forced to sleep outside and we want to do everything we can to make sure all Seattle families have a warm place to sleep this winter,” said Jim Spady, Vice President of Dick’s Drive-In. “Together, we can move homeless Seattle families out of encampments, doorways, and cars and into safe, emergency shelter.”

“Our employees are committed to giving back to the community and we love the idea of using a unique tool like crowdfunding to tackle a problem like homelessness,” said Pearl Leung, Sr. Community Relations Manager at Vulcan. “This campaign is both innovative and inclusive because anyone can donate – you don’t have to attend an event and you can forward it to friends, family and colleagues.”

“We are a young company with young employees looking for a way to give back to our community in new ways,” said Bryce Phillips, Founder of evo. “An online campaign like this that addresses the important issue of homelessness in our own backyard is a great fit for evo and we’re excited to be able to make a difference.”

“We are women helping women, families helping families,” said Kelli Schnieder, of the Seahawks Women’s Association. “Seattle is a city of incredible passion and when we work together, we can do amazing things, like make sure every child and family has safe shelter.”

“The Space Needle and the Seattle Hospitality Group are pleased to partner with this diverse group of local Seattle businesses who have come together to create a significant impact on family homelessness,” said H.S. Wright III, founder of the SHG. “We’ve been supporters of Mary’s Place for many years and look forward to helping them bring families inside this winter.”

“My family has called Seattle home since 1979 and we have seen our city grow, and prosper during that time, but we’ve also seen an increase in the numbers of those who are homeless” said business leader Stan Harrelson. “This is the right time for us to come together to help those who are outside during this cold winter season, and we are honored to play a role in making that happen in our community.”

About Mary’s Place:

Mary’s Place empowers homeless women, children, and families to reclaim their lives by providing day and night shelter, nourishment, resources, healing and hope in a safe community. The organization serves over 160 women and children every day who come to their door for basic needs and safety.

Media Contact:

Katy Sutta, Communications Director, Mary’s Place
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 206-621-8474

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