ASI Thanks Employees for Generous 2015 Charitable Initiatives

TREVOSE, PA – December 23, 2015 – The Advertising Specialty Institute® today thanked its employees for generous donations of time, goods and nearly $30,000 in cash contributed throughout 2015 to nearly a dozen community nonprofit organizations.

“From a very early age, my parents of blessed memory, Bess and Maurice Cohn, taught us the importance of giving back,” said ASI Chairman Norman Cohn. “As they often said, ‘When God smiles on your parade, it’s important you smile on other people’s parades.’ We’re a small company made up of people with very big hearts and it’s wonderful that so many of our employees work so hard to help others.”

ASI encourages all employees to take every opportunity to lend a helping hand. Over the years, the company has helped to raise nearly $2 million in cash and goods for worthy causes, including aid to victims of natural disasters. In addition, Timothy M. Andrews, ASI’s president and chief executive officer, founded and provided funding for a food bank in his native state of Indiana and provided major seed funding to the Hawcreek/Flat Rock Endowment Fund, also in his hometown.

“I’m proud that our employees so willingly and selflessly support so many organizations helping to improve the lives of neighbors in our community,” said Andrews. “At ASI, we’ve made ‘We care’ an integral part of our corporate values, and we’re delighted that so many of our employees contribute time, energy and resources to helping those less fortunate all year long.”

Below are the chief organizations ASI, its employees and the Cohn family contributed to in 2015 in an effort to promote the idea of “goodwill toward men” (and women) throughout the year:

• Annual Holiday Gift Drive. In December, hundreds of ASI employees donate money to buy gifts for area families living in or receiving services through a homeless shelter run by the Family Service Association of Bucks County, PA. This year, employees bought nearly $6,000 worth of gifts.
• American Red Cross. Every year, ASI’s administrative staff hosts a silent auction to raise money for the American Red Cross using sample promotional products sent by suppliers and featured in ASI magazines. This year, they raised a record-breaking $5,000 for the local Red Cross chapter in Pennsylvania. In addition, employees have donated a total of 50 pints of blood.
• United Way. Each year, the Cohn family matches any funds employees donate to United Way. This year, ASI donated a total of $15,000 to the United Way of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which helps advance the greater good by focusing on three key issues: access to a quality education, a stable income and good health.
• The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Every season, employees donate whatever they can to get a photo taken with Santa to benefit the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House, which provides a home away from home for families of critically ill children receiving treatment at local hospitals. This year, the photos, along with matching donations from Norman Cohn and Tim Andrews, raised $1,400.
• Dress for Success, MenzFit and Soles4Souls. Employees donated 226 items of interview-appropriate clothing to organizations helping Philadelphia-area low-income men and women entering or reentering the job market.
• Honor Flight Philadelphia. ASI’s administrative assistant staff organized a coat sale that raised $2,000, enough to allow the veterans group to thank eight area veterans for their service with a trip next year to Washington, D.C. In addition, ASI employees served as chaperones on the 2015 trip and gathered to cheer and welcome the group when they returned to the Philadelphia area.
• Women’s Humane Society. The ASI Diversity Council solicited contributions along with donated pet food and shelter goods to benefit the Bucks County animal shelter.
• Helping Cure Diabetes. In the past 10 years, the daughters of ASI Vice-Chairman Matthew Cohn, Sydney and Mackenzie, have raised nearly $3 million to help fund research for Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes, a disease that affects millions of people, including a large and growing percentage of children like them (www.cohnsisters.com). In the last year, the girls raised $300,000 through fundraisers like an annual JDRF walk for the cure in Philadelphia. JDRF is the world’s largest charitable funder of diabetes research. Matthew Cohn also serves on the JDRF International Board of Directors, and out of over 50,000 teams around the world, the Cohn family has raised the most for JDRF in four of the last five years.
• Employee Turkey and Pie Giveaway. Each November, the Cohn family thanks ASI employees by giving them a choice of a free Thanksgiving turkey or pie. This year, the family continued the 32-year tradition by distributing 284 turkeys and 230 pies. The pies specifically benefited the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA) Pie in the Sky charity of Philadelphia as every pie ASI bought provided a fresh, hot, homemade Thanksgiving dinner that served four, delivered to a MANNA client coping with a life-threatening illness and at acute nutritional risk as a result.

About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) is the largest media, marketing and education organization serving the promotional products industry, with a network of over 25,000 distributors and suppliers throughout North America. ASI leads the industry in technology solutions, providing cloud-based e-commerce, enterprise resource planning software (ERP) and customer relationship management software (CRM). ESP Web® is the industry’s leading tool for sourcing hundreds of thousands of products. A family-owned business since 1962, ASI also provides online research, marketing, advertising opportunities, trade shows, education, award-winning magazines, newsletters, custom websites and catalogs to help members sell, market and promote their brands. Visit ASI at www.asicentral.com and on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and the CEO’s blog.