Carpet One Wins USA Magazine Award

Manchester, NH, April 14--Carpet One’s community relations campaign, "Carpet One Makes A Difference," was recently recognized by USA Weekend magazine and The Points of Light Foundation as one of the most extraordinary volunteer efforts in the country. This past October, along with millions of other volunteers, Carpet One storeowners, employees and community members participated in USA Weekend’s National "Make A Difference Day," the largest national day of community service. Carpet One stores supported their local elementary schools by donating their time, skill and materials to complete library and media center makeovers. Makeovers included everything from replacing the carpeting to creating a literature-themed mural on the library walls. As one of ten nationwide winners of the USA Weekend magazine award, Carpet One was allocated $10,000, courtesy of actor-philanthropist Paul Newman, to donate to the charity or cause of their choice. Additionally, Carpet One was featured in the April 17th issue of the magazine, which reaches more than 50 million readers every Sunday. "We’re truly honored to receive this award from USA Weekend magazine and The Points of Light Foundation," said Evan Hackel, president of Carpet One. "I’m proud of all of the stores and volunteers that participated in National 'Make A Difference Day' and I’m glad that we’re able to thank everyone involved for their efforts by giving back to the schools in their communities." In appreciation of the dedication of the nearly 100 individual stores that participated in "Carpet One Makes A Difference," Carpet One asked each store to nominate their elementary school to receive additional funding to make further improvements. Based on letters and stories from Carpet One storeowners, teachers and principals, three very worthy schools were chosen to receive $3,333 each. Representatives from USA Weekend magazine, Carpet One, the mayor’s office, the local school district that received a donation and local media gathered to celebrate the award Wednesday morning in Carpet One’s Manchester, NH corporate office. Carpet One Co-CEO and Co-Founder Howard Brodsky addressed the crowd, thanking USA Weekend magazine for acknowledging Carpet One with the award and emphasizing the importance of giving back to our local communities. During the "Carpet One Makes A Difference" campaign, Carpet One stores donated more than 80,000 square feet of flooring for makeovers that were worth over $250,000. More than 1,000 volunteers participated in the campaign, which affected 30,000 elementary school children nationwide. The campaign was an overwhelming success that Carpet One hopes to continue in the future.