Some partnerships begin with a spreadsheet and a pitch deck, but this one began with a chance connection in an obstetrician’s office, an idea sparked from a local news segment, one woman who saw an opportunity and thought: we can do this.
Cec Gerstman has been part of the promotional products industry for years, working for Denver-based Halo Branded Solutions as a liaison between companies in need of branded products and the suppliers who create them. Through that work, she was invited to join the board of The Rocky Mountain Promotional Products Association (RMRPPA), a regional trade group made up of distributors and suppliers across the industry. Once on the board, Cec knew right away how she wanted to contribute.
"The reason I joined was to make a difference in our industry and in our regional community," Cec says. "Each regional chapter has a philanthropy committee, and I knew that was the place for me."
Even though giving back is built into the association's DNA, Cec saw firsthand how hard it can be to find the right fit: a nonprofit whose needs align with what her industry actually has to give. Member companies regularly accumulate overstock of quality products with nowhere to go, and RMRPPA collects those donations and works to place them where they'll have real impact. The challenge, Cec says, is finding the perfect match; for her, that match turned out to be one she'd known about for a long time.
Cec was first introduced to Raise the Future decades ago, through her OB/GYN. His wife served as a director of what was then called The Rocky Mountain Adoption Exchange, and Cec and her husband began supporting their work connecting youth in foster care with loving families. Earlier this year, when Cec saw a story on CBS Colorado about youth in foster care transporting their belongings in trash bags, she had an idea.
"I thought, wait a minute," she recalls. "It's so hard for us to find a place that will really appreciate the kinds of things we have — backpacks, water bottles, fidgets. I realized we can provide these items to youth who need them most." She realized that Raise the Future might be the just the organization to help make the connection.
She and her fellow RMRPPA board members Evan and Nancy pulled a donation drive together, gathering hundreds of brand-new backpacks, water bottles, notebooks, fidgets, pens, and other supplies from member companies. Raise the Future used those items as part of their back-to-school drive to customize and fill backpacks for 60 youth.
Cec and Raise the Future have plans to develop an ongoing partnership. The industry will always have overstock, and Raise the Future will always have kids who could use it. “I’m so grateful that we could make this connection and get these products to kids that need them,” she says.
We're grateful as well. To Cec, Evan, Nancy, and the entire RMRPPA philanthropy committee: thank you for supporting our youth and families.