Air Terminal Gifts donate $12,000 to Catholic Community Services

Intermountain Catholic

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The new Catholic Community Services (CCS) offices on 300 South were the setting for the presentation of a $12,000 donation to CCS by Air Terminal Gifts Sept 18. Chief Operating Officer Tom Crismon and Chief Executive Officer Kathy Crismon of Air Terminal Gifts presented a check to CCS' Aden Betar, director of the non-profit organization's Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Programs. This is the second such donation from Air Terminal Gifts. photo courtesy of CCS

SALT LAKE CITY — Air Terminal Gifts, the Salt Lake City-based company that operates 16 stores in the Salt Lake City International Airport, donated $12,000 to Catholic Community Services of Utah (CCS), Sept. 18.

Air Terminal Gifts President/CEO Kathy Crismon and COO Tom Crismon presented the check to CCS’ Aden Betar, director of Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Programs, at the nonprofit organization’s new home at 745 East 300 South. The donation was made as part of the Air Terminal GIFTS program. GIFTS is an acronym for guidance, integrity, freedom, transformation, and self-sufficiency.

This is the second consecutive year that Air Terminal Gifts has donated $12,000 to CCS. The donation is part of a philanthropic effort put forward by the family-owned company to support local nonprofit organizations.

Catholic Community Services of Utah was established by the Diocese of Salt Lake City in 1945 to address the human needs of families and individuals in the most desperate of circumstances, without regard to race, religion, or any other factor. The organization has a wide array of programs that feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, welcome the immigrant and the refugee, counsel the troubled, and protect the vulnerable.

"At Air Terminal Gifts, we employ several immigrants and refugees. In fact, about half of our 155 employees are originally from other countries. Many of these employees’ families have been positively impacted by the efforts of Catholic Community Services of Utah, so it just made sense for us to make a donation to this worthy organization," Kathy Crismon said.

According to Maggie St. Claire, executive director of CCS, "This year, Catholic Community Services helped settle over 400 refugees in the Salt Lake area. CCS teaches them about their new community, helps them find jobs, and works with them to become self-sufficient. We’re so appreciative of the caring and assistance Air Terminal Gifts gives to us and in turn to the refugees."

In 2006, Air Terminal Gifts donated $48,000 to area nonprofit organizations. In 2007, that amount has increased to $60,000.

Air Terminal Gifts originated when Bill and Lucille Crismon won a bid to open a gift shop boutique and newsstand at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Today, the company is still owned by the Crismon family, and is now under the direction of Tom Crismon (son of Bill and Lucille) and his wife, Kathy Air Terminal Gifts’ 16 stores currently occupy 17,000 square feet, or 70 percent of the available retail space in the Salt Lake City International Airport.

Air Terminal Gifts’ stores include Your Planet (environmentally and socially friendly products), Zeta & Company (women’s fashion), West of Brooklyn (Native American Jewelry, newsstand, fashion, collectibles), Vistas (merchandise unique to Utah and the Southwest), Crismon’s News & Views (magazines, books, snacks) and On the Fly Urban Market (upscale convenience store)