FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Lennon, mlennon@ir-network.com / (603) 229-1962
Furniture and Equipment Benefits Recipients in 48 Countries and 25 U.S. States
Concord, NH (June 10, 2011) – On May 21, in a project at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst,IRN’s surplus property program passed a major milestone: 30 million pounds shipped to U.S. and overseas relief organizations. In May alone, IRN shipped more than 1.6 million pounds of surplus, filling 105 tractor trailers from 24 projects in twelve states.
IRN’s surplus program has a simple mission: to assist organizations across the country to keep usable furniture and equipment out of landfills and get it into the hands of needy families and communities, wherever they may be located. To do this, IRN networks with relief organizations that provide disaster relief and support economic development in the U.S. and around the world.
In the ten years since it started its surplus program, IRN has been a conduit providing surplus to 53 different charities, including small metropolitan furniture banks and homeless shelters and large international nonprofits such as Food for the Poor and Feed the Children. IRN surplus has been distributed in 48 countries on five continents, and in 25 U.S. states.
On the contributing side, IRN has worked with nearly 500 different organizations from the four corners of the United States and most places in between – a still growing total of 26 states and one Canadian province. There is no such thing as a typical project. IRN has done pickups as small as three or four desks and chairs, and coordinated massive multi-day cleanouts that filled three dozen tractor trailers. Often IRN has five or six projects going on at the same time, in as many different states, and nearly as many time zones.
“Throwing surplus away is a waste, environmentally, socially, and financially,” says Dana Draper, IRN’s head of operations. “We know that people want to do the right thing with their surplus, but they can’t afford to if it’s going to cost more or take a lot of time and effort. So that’s our job description: provide a simple process, get the job done efficiently, keep the cost low. When we match their surplus with people who really, desperately need it, and make that easier and cheaper than the dumpster, it’s a solution where everybody wins. It’s a reason to really love our job.”