AWARDS & RECOGNITION

The Salvation Army, Manatee: Ashley Canesse, 941-748-5110, ext 129

The Salvation Army, Sarasota: Glenda Leonard, 941-364-8845, ext. 224

Hide-Away Storage: Meisha Wilson, 941-755-1166 x 1004 meisha@hideawaystorage.com

Bradenton, FL -- If you were celebrating thirty years of success in a business that started small and spread to a total of ten locations in six southwestern Florida cities, would you throw a lavish party?

If you were Steve Wilson, managing partner of Hide-Away Storage, you would celebrate the blessings in your life by blessing others. Wilson wanted to find a way to celebrate thirty years of success in his business, Hide-Away Storage.

"We wanted to find a way to show our appreciation to our thousands and thousands of wonderful customers and also to the communities in which we have served during the past 30 years, Wilson said. "It just seemed natural to choose The Salvation Army for our 30th anniversary celebration gift," Wilson said. After all, The Salvation Army is one of the most admired service organizations worldwide. And we try to use The Salvation Army as a model of how we at the Hide-Away Storage can serve our customer base."

Wilson called Ashley Canesse, Development Director of The Salvation Army in Manatee County, and said, "I want to celebrate my company's 30th anniversary by reaching out to The Salvation Armys in each of the communities in which we operate."

Canesse says that the gift is answered prayer. "We are seeing so many more people coming through our doors than ever before. The housing crisis, the rising costs of food, utilities, rent, child care are sending more and more people to the edge of homelessness. People who used to donate to us are finding themselves now in need."

Wilson says that it is appropriate to be making this gift now at Thanksgiving time and at the beginning of the holiday season when the needs of our community are growing because of tough economic times.

Check presentations totaling $21,000 will be made to The Salvation Army in Manatee County and The Salvation Army of Sarasota County today at 1:30 p.m. at The Salvation Army Center for Worship and Service, 5328 24th Street East, Bradenton, FL. On hand to accept the gifts will be Major Tony Barrington of The Salvation Army, Bradenton and Major Donna Murphy, The Salvation Army, Sarasota.

"The gift of $12,000 being made to our Corps will shelter, feed and provide case management for forty women and children for nine critical days,” says Major Tony Barrington, Area Coordinator for The Salvation Army, Manatee. "That same amount of money can provide 16,000 hot, nutritious meals to people who otherwise would go without," he added. "How can we adequately express our thanks for such a generous gift? We are celebrating this gift with great appreciation to Hide-Away Storage and Mr. Wilson.”

Other Salvation Army Corps receiving the balance of Hide-Away Storage's generous $30,000 gift include The Salvation Armys in Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers, and Naples.

The first Hide-Away Storage location began in September of 1977 in Bradenton. There are now ten locations, three in Bradenton, three in Sarasota, and one each in Ellenton, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers, and Naples. Hide-Away combined has more than 8,500 individual air conditioned and 24-hour drive up storage units. It also has a large portable storage, or mobile storage, operation with two large Mobile Storage facilities in Ft. Myers and Sarasota. The company has more than 2,200 portable storage units rented to customers in its services areas.

For more information about Hide-Away Storage, please visit their website at www.hidewawaystorage.com.
For more information about The Salvation Army in Manatee County, please visit their website at www.salvationarmybradenton.com or call Ashley Canesse at 748-5110.