This month Storage Asset Management (SAM), a York, Pa.-based self-storage management and consulting company, collected items for auction at its 36 managed facilities that will be auctioned to benefit Charity Storage, a nonprofit that donates the proceeds from self-storage lien sales to local and national charities. To date, SAM has raised $3,075 for the organization. The funds will be split among the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Kure It Cancer Research and the Self Storage Association Foundation Scholarship Program.
SAM held an employee vote to determine which charity it would support through its fundraiser. We are very excited to have the opportunity to support the ASPCA and its efforts by donating the profit made from Charity Storage auctions, said Tina Krueger, marketing manager. Likewise, SAM was impressed when it found out that charity auction money not only goes to the charity we choose, but also toward cancer research and the Self Storage Association Scholarship Fund!
Storage operators who participate in Charity Storages fundraising efforts dedicate a storage unit from inventory as a collection point for donated goods. Departing and current tenants, auction buyers, and local residents and businesses can donate items to the unit and receive a tax-deductible receipt. When the storage facility holds a public auction, the unit is sold alongside tenant-delinquent units, and the money generated is allocated to local and national charities.
Charity Storage was created when Lance Watkins, founder of the self-storage auction site StorageTreasures.com, and Barry Hoeven, founder and owner of Westport Properties and the nonprofit Kure It Cancer Research, saw the popularity of self-storage auctions grow and realized the industry could give back to society. The net proceeds from each sale are split three ways: 10 percent goes to the SSA Foundation, which provides scholarships to students with a connection to the self-storage industry; 30 percent goes to Kure It; and the remainder goes to a local or national charity chosen by the participating self-storage operator.
We are making every effort to get the word out to everyone in self-storage about Charity Storage, Watkins said. Having Storage Asset Management come through in such an impressive way truly validates everything we are doing. We thank SAM for joining our effort and look forward to working with them for many years to come.
Founded in 2010, SAM manages approximately more than 35 self-storage properties and three UPS Stores along the East Coast.
