Opportunity for All

BY KRISTY HORINE

A53-foot tractor trailer pulled into the gates of the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) Operation Sharing facility in Corbin. Inside the rig were 120 brand new, twin-sized Tempur-Pedic mattresses. Jeff Burchett, director of Operation Sharing, knew these mattresses were much needed.

“Whether it’s for a burn out, where people lost their homes due to a fire, or a flood, like we had in 2022, or for participants in our programs, we know these mattresses are going to people in need,” he said. “It’s hard to believe there are people out there that sleep on the floor every night, or sleep on a couch, or in a chair because they don’t have a bed. To help somebody lay down and sleep, that’s just really a good thing.”

Operation Sharing has spent nearly 40 years doing those good things to meet the needs of people in Appalachia. One way the program meets needs is through faithful partnerships, like the one that began about 25 years ago with Good360. The nonprofit organization connects socially responsible companies who have surplus product to a network of 100,000 nonprofits. Good360 made the mattress delivery possible.

The combined efforts of Operation Sharing and Good360 have converged to become a powerhouse of good for communities across the Appalachian region by meeting essential needs.

In 1983, 3M Corporation wanted to donate $12 million worth of office equipment to United Way. A structure was needed to receive and distribute the donation, so United Way formed Gifts in Kind International, known today as Good360.

Good360 ranks No. 2 on the annual Forbes list of Top 100 Charities in America. Through their partner nonprofits, they have distributed over $18 billion of quality products to communities who have experienced disasters or face economic challenges.

Here’s how a partnership between nonprofits like Operation Sharing and Good360 works: Corporations like Nike, Walmart, Amazon, or Tempur-Pedic contact Good360. These corporations have products they would rather donate than see end up in a landfill. Nike might have extra stock of shoes. Walmart might have extra stock of hygiene products. Tempur-Pedic might have extra stock of pillows or mattresses. Good360 reaches out to its network of nonprofit partners, like CAP’s Operation Sharing, to move the product into communities.

Jason MacFarlane, senior vice president of operations at Good360, said that in the last 10 years alone, Operation Sharing has received more than 425 truckloads of product.

MacFarlane noted that some of the products have been in direct response to a disaster like the 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky or the 2021 Western Kentucky tornadoes but a lot of the products are intended to meet essential daily needs.

“Everyone remembers the first part of our mission, which is to close the need gap, but the second part is to open opportunity for all. That’s really what it’s about. It’s not just shrinking a gap, but it’s opening up what people are able to do with the product that they need,” MacFarlane said.

Opening opportunity for all creates what Good360 calls “community resilience.” A mattress, for example, is more than a mattress. A good night’s sleep can turn into a successful job interview that changes a family’s future.

“We’re contributing with our partnerships to open opportunities to people that they wouldn’t have had otherwise,” said Elena Balint, Good360’s vice president of marketing. “You do that once and that’s helpful, but you do that in a community over a period of 20 years, and what you’re really starting to do is make an overall impact on that community and help them day to day, year over year, just be a little bit stronger.”

Burchett knows the benefits of community resilience. “Partnerships are critical to the work we do,” he said. “By working together, we are able to continue building hope for children, their families, and seniors in our region through the distribution of essential items. We are grateful for the longevity of our partnerships, like with Good360.”