PCMA, Chapters Donate $54,000 to Charities
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 4/25/2005
The Professional Convention Management Assn. and its regional chapters have donated $54,000 to charities across the nation and provided community service in several cities as part of their 2005 Network for the Needy program.
The program includes three initiatives: volunteer projects incorporated into meetings and tradeshows (including the PCMA Hospitality Helping Hands off-site volunteer event at the association's annual meeting); food and product donations from shows; and Party with a Purpose, a fundraising event held at the annual meeting that has raised more than $1 million over the past 12 years.
Witnessing the efforts of the network program "come to fruition has been very, very rewarding," said John Patronski, executive vice president of industry development for GES Exposition Services, which founded the party event eight years ago and underwrites the overall network program.
"There's just a lot of sense in supporting a program like that," he added.
PCMA's Heartland chapter recently raised about $6,000 for Operation Breakthrough, Missouri's largest childcare center for homeless and impoverished children. Marsha Gillespie, development director for the Kansas City center, said the contribution "makes a huge difference here. We're so dependent on community donations."
The chapter's planned June zoo trip with Operation Breakthrough is appreciated, because otherwise, "these are kids that are not going to make it to the zoo or to a museum. They're just not going to get these kinds of experiences," said Gillespie.
Kelly Wright, convention sales manager for Denver's Colorado Convention Center and a PCMA Rocky Mountain chapter member, said she is "driven by the belief that even a small group of people with big hearts can make a difference. Helping to bring a smile and joy into the lives of others is truly a great feeling."
