Update 4/17/14 – PhoneSmart’s “Toes for a Kure” campaign raised $1,100 for Kure It Cancer Research. The company pledged to donate $10 to Kure It for every person who visited its booth wearing open-toed shoes, sandals or flip-flops during two recent industry events: the national Self Storage Association’s spring convention and the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas.
The footwear-themed campaign was chosen as a tribute to Kure It founder Barry Hoeven, who always wears sandals or flip-flops because closed-toed shoes are too uncomfortable for him as a result of his kidney cancer, PhoneSmart officials said in a press release.
“Statistics say one in three people will be faced with some form of cancer during their lifetime,” said Tron Jordheim, director of operations for PhoneSmart. “Better, more easily accessible treatments need to be made available. With Toes for a Kure, we wanted to have a bit of fun at the tradeshows, while highlighting all the great work Barry Hoeven and Kure It is doing.”
2/19/14 – PhoneSmart, an off-site sales and reservation center for self-storage operations, will hold a “Toes for a Kure” fundraiser this spring to raise money for Kure It Cancer Research, a nonprofit dedicated to funding kidney and other cancer research. PhoneSmart will donate $10 for every person who visits its booth wearing open-toed shoes, sandals or flip-flops during two upcoming industry events, including the national Self Storage Association’s (SSA) spring convention and the Inside Self-Storage World Expo in Las Vegas.
Kure It was launched by self-storage industry veteran Barry Hoeven, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1998. In April 2007, Hoeven partnered with cancer center City of Hope to create the Kure It! Kidney Cancer Research Fund, which raised more than $400,000. Kure It Inc. was established in January 2010 to grant funds to cancer researchers investigating progressive treatments and cures. To date the organization has raised more than $2.5 million.
The footwear-themed campaign was chosen as a tribute to Hoeven, who always wears sandals or flip-flops because closed-toed shoes are too uncomfortable for him as a result of his cancer, PhoneSmart officials said in a press release. The fundraiser also has a social media tie-in using the hashtag #toesforakure.
“We are hoping to have a little fun at the tradeshows while highlighting all the great work Barry Hoeven and Kure It do,” said Tron Jordheim, director of PhoneSmart. “We hope lots of people show up in sandals!”
The SSA event will take place March 2-4 in Atlanta. The ISS Expo, the self-storage industry’s largest conference and tradeshow, will be held March 30 through April 2 at the Paris Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas. Created for facility owners, managers, developers, investors and suppliers, it comprises four days of education, exhibits and networking opportunities.
PhoneSmart was founded in 2000 to serve its parent company, StorageMart, and offer off-site sales support and call-center services to other companies in the self-storage and property-management industries. The company answers rental inquiries for more than 100 client companies and 800 individual properties in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
