Challenge
Larson Financial Foundation, headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., is a 501(c)(3) corporate foundation with the vision of empowering entrepreneurs and establishing sustainable business in communities of great need. The foundation strives to provide livable wages for refugees and immigrants as well as education for life skills. In 2015, John Peters, executive director at Larson Financial Foundation, needed shop tools, large pieces of equipment and other small items for the foundation’s carpentry shop. Additionally, Wellspring Cleaning, one of the foundation’s social enterprise ventures, needed cleaning supplies and large maintenance equipment. As a non-profit, the budget was tight and Peters needed to create the greatest impact with the dollars he had to work with.
He was then referred to WIN Warehouse…
Solution
Peters learned about WIN Warehouse from a current member of the WIN program. After reaching out to see how Larson Financial Foundation could take advantage of WIN’s services, Tony DiFranco, program director of WIN Warehouse, invited Peters to visit the warehouse and check out the operations and resources they could provide.
“Tony was very receptive to me and the foundation,” says Peters. “He was very intrigued by what we do in the community and excited to help us further our mission.”
Results
Larson Financial Foundation’s membership with WIN Warehouse has enabled Peters to receive the shop tools and equipment for the carpentry shop as well as receive cleaning supplies and maintenance equipment for the cleaning company at anywhere from a 67 percent to 90 percent savings.
“Saving money enables us to shift more resources to employees, not only in the terms of livable wages, but to provide education on how to establish credit or buy a house,” says Peters. “WIN is a part of that because we are able to re-deploy resources that would have otherwise been spent on necessities.”
The foundation has continued their WIN membership for more than two years and has also utilized this resource to receive supplies and furniture for their office.