Donation to CCS benefits refugees

Intermountain Catholic

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This is one of the 16 stores that are part of the Air Terminal Gifts that made a $12,000 donation to CCS.

SALT LAKE CITY – A $12,000 donation from a local, family-owned company will help Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Utah welcome refugees.

"We have been donating to CCS for approximately five years; it's been a while," said Brooke Quaintance, vice president of retail operations and business development for Air Terminal Gifts, which made the donation in June. "We try to donate to local organizations that kind of have a connection to what we are as a company."

The donation is part of a philanthropic effort put forward by the company to support local nonprofit organizations.

"We have a large amount of employees that are refugees or from other countries," said Quaintance."That's why we feel it's important to give this money to Catholic Community Services programs."

The employees at the Air Terminal Gifts shops hail from countries as diverse as Bosnia, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Turkey and Italy,

"At Air Terminal Gifts, several of our employees originally came to this country as refugees. In fact, about half of our 155 employees are originally from other countries. Many of these employees were initially helped by Catholic Community Services of Utah, so our company has a real affinity for this very important nonprofit organization," Air Terminal Gifts CEO Kathy Crismon said.

The money was collected as a part of the Air Terminal GIFTS program. GIFTS is an acronym for guidance, integrity, freedom, transformation and self-sufficiency.

"We rely on partnerships like the one we have with Air Terminal Gifts to continue to welcome refugees to Utah," said Brad Drake, executive director of Catholic Community Services , adding that "in 2010, we expect to assist more than 600 refugees and 45 refugee foster children, and Air Terminal Gifts helps make this assistance possible."

"We do the same amount for five different organizations every year," said Quaintance.

These organizations include the Neighborhood House and American Diabetes of Utah in their children's program.

"The organizations that we donate to are only local organizations; all the money stays locally," said Quaintance.