Delivering Good Gala to Celebrate Power of Fashion Philanthropy
2020 was a year of virtual events, and we’ve all been itching to get back to in-person celebrations. Nonprofit organization Delivering Good is no exception. After a fully digital gala last year, it is back with a live evening on Nov. 3.
The organization is focused on getting unsold, new goods into the hands of people who need them. Corporate partners such as Gap Inc., Neiman Marcus, American Eagle Outfitters, Tapestry and more contribute to the cause.
“The name of the organization says it all: We deliver good to people who need good in their lives and do that by gathering unused products people can really use. We touch locally, nationally and globally,” said Ken Downing, chief creative officer of American Dream, Delivering Good board member and the emcee for the gala.
During the event—which will also be livestreamed—Delivering Good will honor Ralph Lauren with the Lifetime Achievement Award, SAP with the first ever Innovation Award and Tanger Outlets with the Impact Award. SAP is helping companies connect with community organizations that need help via a platform built for Delivering Good. Tanger Outlets has supported a number of Delivering Good drives, including sponsoring a back-to-school event in Washington, D.C. and fundraising via the sale of beanie hats last winter.
Ralph Lauren has been donating merchandise through Delivering Good since 2012. “At Ralph Lauren, our purpose is to inspire the dream of a better life, and our teams are always striving to reflect this purpose and our values in the work that we do across the communities around us and the causes we support,” said David Lauren, chief branding and innovation officer and vice chairman of the board of Ralph Lauren. “We are proud to be a longstanding partner of Delivering Good and support them in their mission to positively impact the lives of families and individuals.”
Ken became involved in Delivering Good by chance. He explained to Carved in Blue that when the original emcee for the 2019 gala had to drop out, his friend and Delivering Good board member Stacy Berns asked him to step in. The rest is history. He has headed up the gala since 2019, including hosting the virtual 2020 event that included Whoopi Goldberg.
“I often feel that Delivering Good is one of the best kept secrets in the New York area and the retail wholesale area,” said Ken. “And not only do I see this as being certainly an evening of raising funds that will allow us to do the work that we do, it also becomes a bit of a branding moment and also a marketing moment where we can cast a wider net so we can talk to a bigger audience, not only give traditional retail and traditional manufacturing, but also so we can start speaking to digitally based organizations as well so we can bring them into the fold of what we do.”
One of the goals is to bring more national attention to the cause and grow the number of people involved. Some new aspects of the event that aim to drum up more attention include more entertainment and around 20 to 30 influencers in the audience who can help get the word out.
“The theme of the evening is the power of family, and it can be the biological family you’re born into, or it can be the family that you gather and cobble together,” Ken explained. “We’re coming together as a family to help.”
Delivering Good rescues merchandise and gives it to those in need, such as retired members of the armed forces who are aiming to find work in the corporate world or victims of natural disasters.
“When we’re looking at people who may be out of their homes, who needed a leg up and lift up in the ability to be empowered, who are homeless or on the verge of being homeless, finding themselves in a new work environment or looking for a job, these unused goods really give people the integrity and give them the ability to go back out into the job market and to get their lives back together,” Ken noted.
In addition to the charitable aspect of the organization’s work, it also makes a sustainability impact. Commonly, brands used to shred or burn their unsold goods to prevent theft of physical and intellectual property. But these products could be put to better use.
“Let’s give it another life, if it can give life to an individual that needs something,” said Ken.