The Direct Selling Association helped kick off the 19th Annual TODAY Show Holiday Toy and Gift Drive Nov. 19 by presenting the direct selling industry’s donation live in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
Twenty-one direct selling companies donated a total of nearly $17 million in products and cash to the Toy Drive. Of the 21 participating companies, at least 10 will be featured in their own spots on the TODAY Show during the holiday season. In its nine years of participation, DSA member companies have donated more than $100 million in products, services and cash to the Toy Drive.
Participating companies donated items from books, stuffed animals and fashion accessories to clothing and toiletries for children and families across the country.
“The TODAY Show Holiday Gift Drive is just one example each year of how direct selling serves as a force for good in our communities, across the country and throughout the world,” said Amy Robinson, DSA’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Every day, direct sellers help others achieve their goals through the products and opportunities they offer, but their involvement in charitable and philanthropic activities reinforces the positive impact direct selling has on millions of lives each year.”
The TODAY Show Toy Drive is a project of the Today Show Charitable Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are matched with the needs of more than 200 organizations with which the Today Show Charitable Foundation works. As part of this year’s Toy Drive, DSA member companies will send items to dozens of organizations in states from California to New York.
The following direct selling companies donated products to this year’s Toy Drive:
- 4Life (www.4life.com)
- Amway (ww.amway.com)
- Arbonne (www.arbonne.com)
- Avon (www.avon.com)
- Blessings Unlimited (www.myblessingsunlimited.net)
- CUTCO (www.cutco.com)
- DeTech (www.detech.com)
- Essential Bodywear (www.essentialbodywear.com)
- Initials, Inc. (www.initials-inc.com)
- lia sophia (www.liasophia.com)
- Mary Kay Inc. (www.marykay.com)
- PartyLite (www.partylite.com)
- Pink Papaya (www.pinkpapayaparties.com)
- SeneGence (www.senegence.com)
- Shaklee (www.shaklee.com)
- Signature HomeStyles (www.signaturehomestyles.com)
- Southwestern Advantage (www.southwestern.com)
- Stampin’ Up! (www.stampinup.com)
- Team National (www.bign.com)
- Thirty-One Gifts (www.thirtyonegifts.com)
- Vantel Pearls (www.vantelpearls.com)
For more information on direct selling, DSA and its Code of Ethics, visit the DSA website at www.dsa.org.
To view DSA presenting the donation on the TODAY Show, click here.