Charity Storage, a nonprofit organization that helps self-storage operators raise funds for more than 220 local, national and international charities, has named Robert A. Chiti as its new chairman of the board. Chiti, who is president of self-storage technology provider OpenTech Alliance Inc., took over the role last month from Lance Watkins, who co-founded the nonprofit with the late Barry Hoeven, according to a press release.
Charity Storage has established a national network of participating storage facilities to serve as collection points for goods donated by tenants as well as the general public. The goods are stored and later sold during the facilities’ public auctions.
Watkins will remain on the board of directors. “We are deeply grateful to Lance Watkins for his inspiring leadership as founder and chairman,” Charity Storage officials said in the release. “He has been instrumental in Charity Storage's continuing success and remains dedicated to our mission of giving back to the communities we serve.”
Chiti and Watkins also serve together on the board of directors for StorageTreasures.com, a storage-auction website. Over the past year, OpenTech and StorageTreasures devoted “significant funds, time and resources to strengthen the existing Charity Storage technical and administrative processes,” the release stated. The companies have also provided the nonprofit with legal, tax and technical assistance.
Chiti is also board chair for the California Self Storage Association. He was a board member of the national Self Storage Association (SSA) from 2014 to 2016.
OpenTech is a Phoenix-based provider of self-storage kiosks, call-center services and other technology. It provides several models of INSOMNIAC self-serve kiosks as well as a range of self-storage rental solutions.
Among the organizations that benefit from Charity Storage efforts are Kure-It Cancer Research, which was founded by Hoeven to fund research of kidney cancer and other underfunded malignancies, and the SSA Foundation, which provides scholarships to industry professionals.
Hoeven was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1998. In 2007, he 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. Hoeven also founded Westport Properties Inc. in 1985. The company operates more than 100 facilities in 13 states under the US Storage Centers brand.
