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In the United States, nearly 12 million children live below the poverty line. Most live in communities where opportunities are lacking, educational outcomes are far below average and hope is difficult to find. And that’s under “normal” circumstances.
When disasters strike, these communities often lack the resources and infrastructure to rebuild, compounding the challenges. Since its founding in 1950, World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, has transformed millions of lives through infrastructure projects around the globe. Most recently, the devastation on the East Coast from Hurricane Helene had World Vision mobilizing supplies needed for the ravished areas.
Working together with local communities, World Vision’s programs create foundations for sustainable development, ensuring children have safe spaces to learn and families have secure homes and community facilities to weather future challenges. This is all made possible from donations across all industries, including the PHCP industry, where many manufacturers and wholesale distributors donate materials to World Vision to build up its Storehouses, which act as distribution sites to rapidly deploy needed materials.
Leaders in the kitchen and bath and construction industries have joined with the World Vision Storehouse to make a difference for children and families in poverty here in the United States while solving business problems such as inventory control, low brand awareness and lagging sales.
One such company is Pacific Plumbing Supply Co., a wholesale plumbing distributor based in Seattle. The 76-year-old company operates 18 plumbing and hydronic branches in Washington, Alaska and Montana. It also operates a distribution center and a master distribution warehouse in Washington and has luxury product showrooms in Seattle and Anchorage, Alaska.
The company has partnered with World Vision, and we wanted to spotlight how easy it is to support, and why others should consider it as a business solution. We sat down with Dan Sherman, partner at Pacific Plumbing Supply. Here is what he had to say.
The Wholesaler: How and when did your partnership with World Vision begin?
Dan Sherman: We started our partnership with World Vision in 2017, right after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Louisiana. The devastation was beyond anything we could imagine, and we wanted to find an impactful and immediate way to help. We reached out to Jack Laverty at World Vision to find out what type of materials were needed, timing, logistics, etc. We learned that its disaster response was three phases: relief, recovery and rebuild. We had a container ready to ship immediately and continued to work through our inventory for other products we could send over.
TW: Why is World Vision the right partner for your company’s philanthropic efforts?
Sherman: We believe our partnership is mutually beneficial. World Vision is well organized and thoughtful about its purpose. It has warehouse, shipping and receiving really dialed in. We can see the immediate and direct value we bring to the organization, and it is gratifying to be able to help in a time of need.
TW: How is the partnership a business solution for your company?
Sherman: Part of our success over the last 75 years has been how we manage a broad inventory. We take calculated risks on new products and generally bring in depth and breadth of a given line. Usually, this works well for us but not always. Donating products to World Vision has worked out well for us — it is passionate about what it does, so we think we have a win-win here.
TW: What types of products does your company donate to World Vision?
Sherman: Water heaters, plumbing fixtures, faucets, valves, etc. Really anything related to single-family, multifamily or commercial.
TW: What message would you like to share with other companies in the industry about the importance of partnering with organizations like World Vision?
Sherman: Most of us on the distribution side of the industry have inventory that is not moving as hoped. Donating this surplus material to an organization where it can be used as its “best and highest use” is truly the most valuable and satisfying thing we can do with it.
To learn more about World Vision, please consider attending its Crystal Vision Breakfast event, being held Feb. 26 in Las Vegas during the 2025 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/40bPHNE.