Huge Donation from Sauder Furniture

Former Pensacola Beach resident Pat Ayres has been instrumental in securing "one of the largest contributions" ever to the local non-profit organization that's helping low-income residents in storm-ravaged Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties.

According to Friday's Pensacola News Journal Pat "was talking to her close friend and Ohio furniture company president Kevin Sauder when the thought struck her."

"Why don't I hit him up for a cash donation to help Hurricane Ivan victims?" Ayres asked herself.

Ayres knew Sauder Furniture donated a lot to schools, libraries and foreign missions. But would the company, based in Archbold, about an hour west of Toledo, make a donation to be used in Northwest Florida?

Apparently, Pat was hoping for a small cash donation. Instead, Sauder says he was so impressed by her plea, and the description of all the local devastation, that he decided to donate $140,000 worth of furniture from the family-owned business to Rebuild Northwest Florida, Inc.

That's one hundred and forty thousand dollars!

As News Journal reporter Carlton Proctor explains, that's more than 40 tons of "beds, book cases, and computer, dining, and work tables." The size of the donation is staggering.

"We expected to see a city delivery type truck with furniture. Never in our wildest dreams did we expect to see two 18 wheelers," said Pat Ayres, who has resided in Pensacola with husband [and former SRIA board member] Don Ayres, for the past 14 years. "The huge size of this gift is indicative of Kevin's generosity and concern for people in need."

Former state representative Buzz Ritchie, now a co-director of Rebuild, understandably describes Sauder Furniture as a "great company."

Most readers will recognize the name, too. Sauder Furniture is "the world's leading manufacturer of ready-to-assemble furniture." It's carried locally by many office and home furniture stores in the area. Readers can find a local dealer of Sauder furniture just about anywhere in the U.S.A., Canada, or the world.