A group of family and friends recently celebrated a great day of golf. In part thanks to Houston’s, it was an even better day for one softball team in Kansas. More than 25 four-person teams of golfers gathered to raise money for Tulsa Elite 316 10U, a Wichita Kansas division of softball athletes. Each golfer was invited to compete in the tournament at Cherry Oaks golf course in Cheney, Kansas, taking part in some rounds of golf and a raffle featuring glassware donated by Houston’s.

Houston’s own National Sales Manager Jarrod Bowren was present to facilitate the donation, as well as to support his daughters who were helping to organize the function. All of the girls took on duties, such as selling raffle tickets, serving lunch, and participating in fun activities at different holes across the course, to make the event a success.

The Tulsa Elite Softball Organization was founded to give female athletes an environment where they could compete in high level fastpitch softball to provide them with more opportunity to eventually play at the college level. Founded in 2007, the organization has established a standard for which softball clubs across the nation could aspire. Allowing only one team per age group per region, this institution has given young women the ability to play alongside teammates year-after-year, solidifying lifelong bonds and friendships.

At the end of the day, the event raised a donation of over $5,000 for the division and all involved went home with memories (and prizes!) to share.

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Images: Blue Hills Church Food Pantry facebook page

Blue Hills Church in Kansas City is committed to being “A place to love. A place to grow. A place to experience God.” As such, they are also committed to the spiritual growth and development, educational training, economic empowerment, and social advocacy of their local community.

As a part of their commitment to their local community, Blue Hills Church started a food pantry to benefit those in need within their congregation and community. They work in conjunction with Harvesters Community Food Network (another Houston’s donation recipient) and other independent donations.

Houston’s was able to provide Blue Hills with a variety of Monin and Torani syrups, Torani Real Fruit Lemonade, Sipp soda, and Umpqua Oats Oatmeal. The nearly 260-pounds of donations will help fill the food pantry and provide warm/cold beverages for community members in need.

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Houston’s is proud to donate sixteen cases of cold brew coffee and more than one hundred sixty cases of powdered smoothie mix to assist in local relief efforts. Houston’s donation totaled nearly 2,500 pounds. This product, along with other donations, is available made available at the Sunshine Divisions’ two locations in the Portland-Metro area. Donations are used to build food boxes that are kept at every local police precinct, and are made available 24 hours a day, through partnership with the Portland Police Bureau. Bulk food and food box contributions are passed along to more than twenty local hunger relief non-profits in Clackamas, Clark, Washington, and Multnomah counties.

Houston’s continues to look for opportunities to assist our local communities through organizations such as the Sunshine Division. The impact of our donations is intensified by organizations like this that take the product and spread it throughout both the local community and outlying areas. It’s heartwarming to know that we can utilize our vast resources to further assist individuals, children, and families of all sizes.

For more information on the Sunshine Division visit www.sunshinedivision.org or call their message information line at 503-823-2102.

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Harvesters, photo: harvesters.org

Houston’s has a long-standing relationship with Harvesters Community Food Network in Kansas City, Missouri. We recently partnered with them to donate fifty-eight cases of product to benefit Harvesters mission to “feed hungry people today and work to end hunger tomorrow.” Houston’s donated cases of consumable product from multiple vendors including Umpqua Oats, Mott’s/IBC, Ocean Spray, Dawn, and Monbana.

As a certified member of Feeding America, Harvesters is a nonprofit, regional food bank operating two facilities that serve 26-counties across northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri. In addition to being named Food Bank of the Year in 2011, Harvesters is one of Feeding America’s five regional disaster relief staging areas, meaning they continually store ample food, water, and cleaning supplies to be sent to a disaster relief sites at a moments notice.

Houston’s is always proud to partner with Harvesters as they share our small company values, but important impact that giving back has in the local community.

To learn more about Harvesters, visit www.harvesters.org.

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OCO’s primarily goal is to “relieve hunger and assist low-income families with children both locally and out of state.”
Houston’s is proud to contribute to OCO’s mission. We recently donated cases of Monbana Chocolaterie products enabling the children to indulge in a sweet treat – whether it be a cup of hot cocoa on these cold, rainy days, or a tasty fruit smoothie.

Not to fret, we’re not just loading children up on sugar! Monbana Chocolaterie products are made with real milk, cocoa, and yogurt powders as well as chunks of real dried fruit.

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Houston’s participates in the 2017 Fox 12 Les Schwab Tire Center Toy drive to deliver joy to local children

Houston’s Wilsonville employees participated in the Fox 12 and Les Schwab Tire Centers Toy Drive for the second consecutive year. The goal of the toy drive is to help children and families in our local area with the donation of new, unwrapped toys. All of the donation were distributed to families in need through local non-profit organizations.

“Through the generosity of our employees, we were able to deliver more than 50 toys to our local Wilsonville Les Schwab Tire Center,” says Annette Kramer, Admin Manager. Everything from games and sports equipment for older kids, to cars and stuffed animals for the younger children were left under our lobby Christmas tree to be delivered to boys and girls in our local area in time for Christm

as.

Fox 12 and Les Schwab Tire Centers partnered for the first time back in 2012 as each company was celebrating it’s 60th anniversary. Every year since, the companies have partnered to collect thousands of toys and fill the Fox 12 news studio to the brim.

Houston’s is honored to be a contributor to our local community in this capacity and bring smiles to children and their families during the holiday season, and we’re looking forward to contributing for many years to come.

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If you have any questions about our donation process or our going green initiative, feel free to contact Jenny Johnston in our admin department!

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Photo courtesy of Community Warehouse.

Community Warehouse provides furniture and household items to low-income people in the Portland metro area, helping the recipients create a stable home for themselves and/or their families.

In January, seeing a need and with product to help, Houston’s, Inc. reached out to the warehouse and donated more than 50 cases of dishes to the facility. It is our sincere wish that this will enable many families to sit down to a meal together, to share information about their day, to connect and learn from one another.

Community Warehouse is one outlet for giving, but there are countless others who rely on donations to help serve their communities. How might you help today?

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