Storage Asset Management Inc. (SAM), a York, Pa.-based self-storage management and consulting company, has designated all 24 of its self-storage properties in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states as drop-off points for items to be sold at Charity Storage auctions.

Charity Storage is a nonprofit group trying to establish a national network of participating storage facilities that serve as collection points for goods donated by tenants as well as the general public. Donated goods are stored and later sold during the facilities public auctions.

Self-storage operators that join the Charity Storage network can encourage departing tenants, current tenants, auction buyers, local residents and businesses to donate items to a designated Charity Storage unit at their facilities. Donors receive a tax-deductible receipt. When the storage facility holds a public auction, the Charity Storage unit is sold along with the other units, and any revenue earned from the sale of that unit is allocated to charity.

Net proceeds from the sale of each unit at a Charity Storage auction are split three ways. The national Self Storage Association Foundation Scholarship program receives 10 percent, and Kure It Cancer Research, a nonprofit dedicated to funding kidney and other cancer research, receives 30 percent. Each individual facility chooses a local or national charity to receive the remaining 60 percent.

A vote of SAM employees determined the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to be the companys charity of choice. We are very excited to have the opportunity to support the ASPCA and their efforts by donating the profits made from Charity Storage auctions to them, said Tina Krueger, marketing manager. Likewise, SAM was impressed when it found out that charity auction funds not only go to the charity of choice, but also towards cancer research and an educational scholarship fund!

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