At Christmas time the country tends to believe more than ever in peace on earth and good will towards men. So when the holiday season comes around every year there are always a number of charities around the country that go into overdrive trying to help as many people as they can. Every year there are always a number of self storage facilities around the nation that get involved in a variety of charitable efforts.
The most common one and most logical for the self storage industry is the toy drive, typically the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots drive. Every year facilities from around the nation agree to be drop off points for people to bring donations to. More often than not the facility will donate the space needed to store the donated toys till it is time for them to be distributed.
This year is no different. Approximately 320 U-Store-It facilities across the country have gotten involved this holiday season. Storage Solutions’ 21 facilities are acting as drop off locations all over southern California. Hampshire Self Storage offered up their facilities in the New York-New Jersey area this year, as did many other facilities around the country.
While there are many facilities that get involved in toy drives and food drives that is not the only way in which some self storage facilities give back during the holidays. I-5 Self Storage in Tustin, California, recently hosted the ‘Scoop the Season’ Holiday Craft Fair along with Divine Choices, a charity that is focused on raising awareness of sexual abuse, its impact, and how to prevent it.
Not everything that is done around the holidays has to be geared towards helping the needy. Many self storage facilities offer a service that many find indispensable at this time of the year. It’s called Santa’s Closet. People that have loved ones who are notoriously bad about trying to get a peak at their Christmas presents ahead of time they can use a small unit at a participating self storage facility as storage for their Christmas presents.
Some facilities will offer them up free of charge to their existing tenants like Hide-Away Storage in Florida does. Others will offer it as a short-term service for new customers like Proguard Self Storage in Houston does.
"People call us Santa's Closet. Our Houston TX storage makes it easy to shop for presents without tipping your hand — whether you're planning a surprise for mom and dad, or trying to keep the little ones believing it's really Santa Claus pulling the strings," said Blenda Stapleton, a manager at Proguard Self Storage.
Our inner cynic wants us to beleive that all these deeds are not selfless, but have an ulterior motive-- greed. Depending on how you want to look at it, that would be correct; or it could be simply good business.
Efforts and promotions like the aforementioned are things that tend to garner a lot of public attention. With public attention often comes publicity and essentially free advertising. When it comes to deciding whom to do business with, who better than with someone who helped feed and clothe the needy during the holidays and bring toys to children at Christmas? If these efforts are successful not only will many people smile at Christmas that may not have otherwise, but then the company will be able to gain new customers and stay in business even longer.
Sources Used:
“Santa's Closet: Proguard Storage Houston Helps Families Hide Holiday Gifts.” PR Urgent; 14 December 2010.
“More Self Storage Facilities Announce Involvement with Toys for Tots.” ExtraSpaceStorage.com ; 24 November 2010.
“Self-Storage Facilities across the Nation Are Getting Involved with Toys for Tots.” ExtraSpaceStorage.com ; 09 November 2010.
“In the Spirit of Giving, I-5 Self Storage hosts Holiday Craft Fair benefiting Divine Choices Charity.” WebWire.com; 15 December 2010.
“Top Five Reasons People Use Self Storage During the Holidays.” ExtraSpaceStorage.com; 15 December 2010.