Pier 1 Greeting Card Sales Raise $1.3 million for UNICEF

Home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports said its 2010 UNICEF holiday greeting card sales raised $1.3 million for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, which works to decrease the number of preventable childhood deaths.

Robert Thompson, U.S. Fund for UNICEF senior vice president of development, said Pier 1’s “continued support and dedication to UNICEF is invaluable in helping with our lifesaving mission worldwide.”

This year, four Pier 1 Imports store managers and two field leaders were presented with plaques for 2010 holiday greeting card sales results. They are Bridgette Maine, store manager from Los Angeles/Palmdale, Calif.; Corazon Gaffud, store manager from San Diego/Mission Valley, Calif.; Brian Autote, store manager from San Diego/La Jolla, Calif.; Marlene Thompson, store manager from Saint John, New Brunswick; Teresa Schroer, field leader of San Diego region; and Robert Lemke of California/Hawaii Division.

Pier 1 began selling UNICEF greeting cards in 1985 and is the world’s largest retailer of UNICEF greeting cards, having raised more than $28 million to date.

The Pier 1 greeting card contest started in 1992 as a way to help raise awareness among U.S. school children about UNICEF’s work for children and families around the world. Each year, children in the United States ages 14 and under are invited to compete in the contest, with the winning design reproduced as an official UNICEF holiday greeting card sold at Pier 1 stores nationwide.

Funds from the sale of cards support UNICEF programs that provide lifesaving medicines, vaccines, nutritious foods, primary education, clean water and sanitation and emergency relief for millions of children and women in more than 150 countries.