By the end of Wednesday night at Gotham Hall, the count stood at $2.7 million. It was the largest single-evening total in Delivering Good’s history, raised at the organization’s annual gala on November 4 in New York City, in a room full of leaders from the fashion, retail, entertainment and philanthropic communities.
The evening honored two chief executives. Michael O’Sullivan of Burlington Stores has led a partnership between his company and Delivering Good that now runs past two decades. Libby Wadle of the J.Crew Group was honored as a longtime fashion industry leader and a committed giver. The symmetry was tidy: Burlington was also the night’s diamond sponsor, and the J.Crew Group sat on the platinum tier, so the two honorees’ firms helped pay for the evening that honored them.
Delivering Good runs on product rather than cash. The 501(c)(3) collects new merchandise donated by retailers and manufacturers and moves it through a network of more than 800 community partners to people dealing with poverty, disaster and other hardship. Since 1985, it has distributed nearly $3 billion worth of new clothing, home goods, toys, furniture and books. The gala’s $2.7 million in cash sits on top of that pipeline, paying for the logistics that put a donated coat in the right hands.
Lindsey Coffey, the model and environmental activist who in 2020 became the first American to win the Miss Earth title, hosted the evening. Daiane Sodré, a fashion model and Delivering Good brand ambassador, opened it with a video about what a new possession can do for a person’s confidence after a hard stretch.
The smallest gifts of the night may travel the farthest. Jazwares launched a holiday toy drive from the gala floor, donating 100 Squishmallows to start it and pledging to match every toy guests donated during the event, up to 700 toys.
“The generosity and support shown throughout the evening demonstrate what’s possible when a community comes together to make a difference,” said Matthew Fasciano, president and CEO of Delivering Good. “We’re incredibly grateful to our honorees, sponsors, partners and supporters for their commitment to our mission. Together, we’re creating confidence, hope and opportunity for thousands of people and families facing hardship.”
The platinum sponsors behind Burlington on the sponsor wall tell their own story about where this organization’s support lives: Charles Komar & Sons, First Class Apparel, G-III Apparel Group, Paul, Weiss, Peerless Clothing International, Ralph Lauren Corporation, United Legwear & Apparel Co. and Versa Group/Original Brands. These are apparel and retail houses, giving through the trade they know.
That is the model in one evening. An industry that measures itself in seasons and sell-through rates has built, over four decades, a second distribution system for its surplus, one that ends with families rather than clearance racks. Wednesday’s record suggests the system is still growing, four decades after the organization began moving donated goods to people who needed them.
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