Anton’s tops 60,000-coat goal in annual drive
When Anton’s Cleaners completed its first coat drive back in 1995, the company had tallied
in 2,190 winter garments altogether. This year, the annual Coats for Kids drive
soared to new heights as it brought in 64,480 overall.
“It is because of Coats for Kids and the customers of Anton’s Cleaners that the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless was able to ensure
that hundreds of school-aged children could be warm this winter,” said Robyn Frost, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Coalition for the
Homeless.
During its 14-year history, the Anton’s Coats for Kids drive has brought in over 562,000 warm winter garments.
This year, Anton’s needed the help of 465 collection partners to make it happen. Among those were
nearly 300 schools and over 160 corporate and community partners who
participated in the event, which took place from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 of
2008.
The recent drive also included the help of 60 distribution partners to hand out
the garments to those who needed them. That figure is twice as much as the
previous year’s.
Also chipping in to raise publicity were numerous promotional partners,
including FOX25, Comcast SPOTLIGHT and WROR 105.7. For more information on the
program, visit Anton’s official site at www.antons.com.
NCA helps cleaners to stay on top
The National Cleaners Association plans numerous educational offerings to help
cleaners keep at the top of their game.
Those who want to learn more about “Technical Training at the Counter for Customer Service Reps” can attend the class on April 19 in Syracuse, NY.
NCA’s New York School of Dry Cleaning will serve as the host site for many classes,
including one on “Business Practices” on April 26. Larry Maietta will head the program.
Next up is “What You Need to Know If You Are Faced with a Cleanup” on May 3. Then, on June 7, NCA will offer “Extreme Stain Removal” and another program on “Intensive and Innovative Packaging” on June 28.
All of NCA’s one-day classes run from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The cost is $250 for members
and $275 for non-members.
Those seeking to obtain or update their DEC certification will have
opportunities throughout the year. The association will host three different
sessions.
The class will meet from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on consecutive Sundays. The cost is
$795 for members and $1,295 for non-members.
There will be sessions in English planned for May 17 and 24, and Oct. 10 and 11.
The program will be taught in Korean on July 26 and Aug. 2.
Also in the coming months, NCA will offer several webinars on various Wednesdays
at 6 p.m. EST. The cost is $69 per person for telephone and Web-based
participation.
Upcoming topics and dates include: “X Commandments to Providing a World Class Customer Experience” by John DiJulius on April 1; “Making Facebook, YouTube and Linkoln Work for You” by Mike Sauce” on April 15; and “Specialty Rug Cleaning” on May 20. For more information, visit www.nca-i.com.
