A Community Working Together
Community partners are the roots that have kept the Children’s Art Project stable and strong for 25 years.
From the beginning — when Sakowitz department stores donated floor space in four stores to sell holiday cards, the Glassell School of the Museum of Fine Arts provided art volunteers and Ninfa’s restaurant provided refreshments for holiday card kick-off parties — the community has staunchly supported the Project.
Partners number in the hundreds, but a few firsts stand out in the Project’s history.
First Interstate Bank was the first bank to sell the Project’s holiday cards in all their branches. And Texas Commerce Bank, now Chase Texas, was the first to send hundreds of thousands of holiday mini-brochures in bank statements. Today, numerous banks generously sell the cards and include mini-brochures in their statements sent all around the country.
Randalls grocery stores were the first to donate floor space to sell holiday cards. They continue to be one of the Project’s biggest supporters and set the stage for more than 1,800 retail outlets to follow.
Licensing designs for corporate use began when Scott Paper produced napkins and placemats featuring holiday designs from the Project. The company sold and distributed the decorated products, and the response was incredible. Customers wrote messages of encouragement and support on napkins and sent them back to the Project.
Pizza Hut also has been a part of the Project, selling cards in their restaurants and printing card coupons on pizza boxes. The pizza chain also included them in a special ad campaign which ran on taxis all over Houston in the 1980s.
Today, as in the past, community partners are invaluable, and they are growing right along with the Project.
JoAnn’s clothing stores sell scarves and highlight them in their wide-reach broadcast and print ads. For the past two years, printing partners — American General Financial Group, Arthur Andersen, Compaq Computer Corporation, Enron Corporation, Nations Bank and Burnett Personnel Services & PC Learning Center — generously underwrote the cost of printing one card design each. Distribution companies like ETD Kromar disburse cards to retailers from El Paso, Texas, to Orlando, Florida. And countless grocery stores and retail outlets donate floor space to sell holiday cards on consignment.
Randalls grocery store associates Randy Bailey (left) and Issis E. Rodriguez select a Children’s Art Project design from the card display.
“The Children’s Art Project always has been near and dear to our hearts, and we feel privileged to be part of something so special. The Project and our association with it is a win-win situation for all involved — the children like designing the cards and seeing them on display; it’s a great way for
— Robert R. Onstead, chairman emeritus,
Randalls Food Markets
“By
participating in the Children’s Art Project’s card selection,
we at Enron have the opportunity to make a connection with these extraordinary
children and at the same time, support the many programs the Project funds.
The hardest part of our sponsorship is choosing from dozens of delightful
works of art, but our customers, employees and business partners really
respond to these kids’ work. Every holiday season we can count on
calls from our friends in the community thanking us for supporting the
Project and bringing attention to this important cause.”
— Cindy Olson, vice president of corporate affairs, Enron
