RPPR

TORONTO—A woman who devotes a significant part of her business along with her professional skills to helping the homeless, has been recognised by her peers with the 2009 Promotional Product Professionals of Canada’s Humanitarian Award.

Jody Steinhauer, Chief Vision Officer of The Bargains Group Ltd., received the award for her work with homeless people in Toronto and for helping charities in communities across Canada.

For over 20 years, The Bargains Group has helped corporate philanthropists maximize their donation dollars and has supplied necessity items like warm clothing to thousands of not-for-profit organizations at a fraction of the retail price.

In Toronto, Ms. Steinhauer is best known for her leadership in founding two volunteer initiatives to help the homeless: Project Winter Survival and Project Water.

For the ninth year in a row, the founder and President of The Bargains Group Ltd. on Caledonia Road has headed the purchasing and distribution of winter survival kits for Project Winter Survival, which assist the city's homeless with warmth and essential supplies during winter months. The 25-item kits include everything from sleeping bags, hats, scarves and gloves to toothbrushes, toiletries, facecloths, water and Kleenex tissues, rain ponchos and backpacks.

Project Winter Survival works with some 90 agencies, including The Red Cross, Salvation Army and Toronto-area homeless shelters to distribute the kits every January. Demand for these kits is increasing dramatically. This year the group delivered 2500 kits, a 31 percent increase over the previous year.

Ms. Steinhauer was able to get most of the items in the kits from her company's warehouse or through corporate contacts, but backpack donations have been low this year, she said.

Her work with Toronto’s homeless is not limited to the winter months. In 2001, having learned that more homeless people die from dehydration in the summer months than from exposure in the cold months, Jody founded Project Water, supplying over 200,000 bottles of water to the homeless each summer.

As both a beacon of strategic planning and a good friend to the Salvation Army, Ms. Steinhauer was called upon to facilitate a business plan that would enable them to replace toys and food destroyed by fire at their Distribution Centre in May 2008. Jody quickly reached out to her network and got the job done!

“Jody’s volunteerism also extends into the realm of media relations. Through her volunteer speaking engagements, busy website and media appearances, Jody never misses an opportunity to champion the cause of homelessness. She spends over 200 volunteer hours each year on speaking and public relations engagements to raise awareness on this difficult subject.

“Every day, in all she does, Jody reaches out to those in need. She acts as a volunteer mentor for high-risk youth, new Canadians and adults facing all manner of challenges. She hires these individuals as employees of The Bargains Group and ensures they receive mentoring and support to maximize their success,” said colleague Josée Boivin, President of ISM Impressio, in presenting the award.

People wishing to support her work can visit http://projectwintersurvival.org or www.bargainsgroup.com. PPPC’s Humanitarian Award is awarded annually to a supplier or distributors of promotional products for exemplary contribution and commitment to the community.

About PPPC

Founded in 1956, Promotional Product Professionals of Canada is the national grouping of suppliers and distributors of promotional products for business gifts, rewards, incentives, premiums and specialty advertising products. Its mission is to lead, inspire and advance the $3.97 billion industry through the strength of more than 7,222 companies involved in the business and their 37,000 people across Canada. Its members offer more than 360,000 promotional items through the association’s website at www.pppc.ca

-30-

For more information, please contact

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , PPPC, 514-489-5359 or

Robin Palin, RPPR Inc., 514-426-7137 or 1-800-363-3801