Contact: Victor Domine           
Craft & Hobby Association                
(201) 835-1224                                   
vdomine@craftandhobby.org
 

CHA MEMBERS GIVE BACK IN CHICAGO
 
Members Host a Kids Craft Fair and Donate Over $40,000 in Craft Supplies to Boys & Girls Club Crafting Curriculum
 
ELMWOOD PARK, NJ (July 17, 2008) The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) in conjunction with its members and annual CHA Summer Convention & Trade Show held at the Rosemont Convention Center, hosted a three-hour Kids Craft Fair for 150 kids at the General Robert E. Wood Boys & Girls Club of Chicago (BGCC) Center on July 16, 2008 as a way to give back to a community that has hosted the annual Summer Convention & Trade Show for over 20 years.  In honor of the Kids Craft Fair an official proclamation designating July 16th as "Kids Craft Day in Chicago” was issued by the Honorable Mayor Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago.
 
In his proclamation Mayor Daley sited sharing a passion for crafts with kids, inspiring creativity, fostering manual dexterity, promoting social skills, enforcing spatial and conceptual faculties and helping build good will within the community as factors behind his support.
 
“Kids Craft Day is a wonderful opportunity for our young people to explore their creativity, learn new skills and have a unique experience,” explained Angela Benke, BGCC Program Director. “Kids love to do new things and Kids Craft Day offers just that.   We are very grateful to the Craft & Hobby Association for supporting this event at the Club.”
 
CHA members including Terri O, Duncan Enterprises, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, FloraCraft Corporation, Arte Latin-Oh!, Creative Hands, Scrapbook Retailer Magazine, Memory Makers Magazine, EK Success, Ellison/Sizzix, Pack-o-Fun Magazine, Leisure Arts, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, and research partner Phoenix Multicultural, all donated product, time and effort to make this event special for the children of the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago. Over 40 companies donated craft supplies to insure that the BGCC had a complete year’s worth of crafting curriculum.  All told, over $40,000 worth of craft products and supplies were donated.   
 
Additional contributing companies include:

1.       3L Corporation
2.       Arts and Crafts by Rayson
3.       Beacon Adhesives
4.       BOC Design Group
5.       Janlynn Corporation
6.       Canvas Corp LLC
7.       Caren's Crafts
8.       Colorbok, Inc.
9.       Clearsnap, Inc.
10.    C-Line Products, Inc.
11.    Coats & Clark
12.    Cream City Ribbon
13.    Creative Imaginations
14.    Creative Treasures
15.    Crescent Cardboard Company, LLC
16.    Create and Treasure from C&T Publishing
17.    Darice, Inc.
18.    Eyelet Outlet
19.    Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.
20.    Fire Mountain Gems
21.    F+W Publishing
22.    Happy N Scrappin'
23.    Indus Trading Company
24.    Jack Dempsey Needle Art
25.    Jann Johnson, Designer
26.    Julianna Hudgins
27.    Kalmbach Publishing
28. Kathy Peterson Designs
29.    KS Productions
30.    Laura Kelly Designs
31.    National Nonwovens
32.    Magic Mesh
33.    Making Memories
34.    Mark Richards Enterprises, Inc.
35.    MCS Industries, Inc.
36.    MomCentral.com
37.    Martingale & Co. - Knitting with Gigi
38.    McGill, Inc.
39.    Memories Across Miles
40.    Mundial Inc.
41.    On the Surface
42.    OTT-LITE® Technology
43.    Pabric (IPLOW Group)
44.    Plaid Enterprises
45.    Polyform Products
46.    S & S Worldwide
47.    Ryland Peters & Small
48.    Sakura Color Products of America, Inc.
49.    Sbar’s Inc.
50.    Scrapbook Mania
51.    Scrapbooking BY Inches
52.    ScrapMap.com
53.    Sillycone Inc.
54.    Spanish Memories, Inc.
55.    The DMC Corporation
56.    T.Hee Greetings, Inc.
57.    The Butterfly Loom
58.    The Craft Pedlars
59.    Walnut Hollow
60.    World Piece Emporium
61.    Xyron Education
62.    Retrospect by Smead/The Smead Manufacturing Company

 
"Pack-o-Fun is delighted to share the ideas and activities found in our magazine with the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago.  We're all about getting kid's creative juices flowing," explained Annie Niemiec, Editor of Pack-o-Fun Magazine.
 
“As the leader in the crafting products industry, we believe crafting with children is vitally important as it helps to foster creativity, imagination and personal expression,” says Rich Ezra, Vice President of Creative Services, EK Success.  “We are excited to offer our Disney-licensed papers and embellishments to the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago for this important event that celebrates crafting with kids.”
 
“Art stimulates imagination and boosts creative thinking,” explained Donna Lichtenstein, Vice President of Creative Hands by Fibre-Craft Materials Corporation. “We are excited to share our sm’Art products with kids of the Boys & Girls Club and we know they will have of fun with Creative Hands arts and crafts all year long.”
 

About The Craft & Hobby Association
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is a not-for-profit organization consisting of about 5,000 member companies engaged in the manufacture, distribution and retail sales of products in the $31 billion craft and hobby industry. The Association offers a broad range of member services, including market research, education and consumer branding initiatives, as well as operates two annual trade show events, the CHA Winter Show and CHA Summer Show that attract industry professionals from all over the world. For more crafting ideas go to www.craftplace.org.