brother, can you spare a truck?

Sharing surplus items with those in need makes eminent sense, and many of us donate food, clothing, and household goods to charities. But that raises the problem of getting those goods to their destination— a process that requires a place for storing and staging them, and lots and lots of wheels.

That's why the National Furniture Bank Association and the Institution Recycling Network are asking for help from transportation and logistics professionals. The two organizations are working together to get more furnishings to furniture banks across North America. IRN accepts good-quality residential furniture donated by colleges, universities, and prep schools and delivers the pieces where they're needed. The furniture banks distribute the items to homeless shelters, disaster victims, and others who lack the basic household necessities.

"This partnership is another step in our shared and urgent commitment that no child should have to eat from a milk crate or sleep on the floor," said NFBA Ambassador Kathy Ireland, CEO and chief designer of Kathy Ireland World Wide, in a statement. "But to take the next step in our campaign, we need the help of logistics companies throughout North America to provide donated transportation and warehousing services."

If you're involved in warehousing, transportation, or other areas of logistics and have extra capacity, you can help by contacting NFBA executive Jeff Hay at (614) 6798739 or jhay@Help1Up.org.