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How Trade Show and Event Planning Professionals can Profit from Partnering with Worthwhile Charities:
A SPECIAL INTERVIEW with Philanthropist and Holocaust Survivor Henri Landwirth By Don Browne
On September 11th of this year, I flew to Jacksonville, Florida to interview Henri Landwirth, Holocaust survivor, Hotel magnate
and remarkable philanthropist whose Dignity U Wear (DUW) is supported by both Off Price
Show exhibitors and its retail community. Since its inception in 2000, Dignity U Wear has collected and distributed 4.5 million
pieces of brand new clothing worth $70 million to 370,000 poor and homeless people in 31 different states. He has seven other
foundations, including Give Kids the World (GKTW), a special village in Central Florida for terminally ill children and their
families who wish to visit Disney World and Orlando's other theme parks. It is estimated that he will have helped more people
through his philanthropic efforts in his lifetime than were killed in the Holocaust.
His enormous success as a hotelier was largely attributable to his intense focus on customer service and his clever promotions and
public relations strategies. By treating his customers like family, he developed very close friendships with celebrities like astronaut
John Glenn and newsman Walter Cronkite.
In this special interview, Henri shares with us how trade show organizers, event planners and service/ hospitality professionals
can grow their businesses - even in a down economy - by partnering with Dignity U Wear to help families in need in their own communities.
He also reflects on his experiences in hospitality, and how event planners can profit from his example of "knock your socks off" service
and promotions.
Click here to read this interview.
Henri Landwirth’s Amazing Career in Hotels
Henri starting managing the Starlight Motel in 1954 which was built to house the astronauts and others associated with the space
program. The relationships he developed – through proactive customer service with key people in the space program and the media.
When John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, Henri had a 900-lb. cake made that was patterned after Glenn’s ship,
Friendship 7. Henri even got NASA to forego security by revealing the name of the ship (with a verbal promise not to tell the media)
so that he could have it iced on the cake.
While managing the Holiday Inn, Henri convinced Walter Cronkite and his other friends from the media to do their televised reports
on the space program in front of the hotel. This did more for Holiday Inn’s franchising efforts than any other marketing initiative
at the time. Henri than went over his supervisor’s head – to the Chairman of the Board – to get permission to spend $600 on flags of
the world that would hang in front of this Holiday Inn just in time for John Glenn’s historic flight. This attracted even more media
to conduct their reports in front of the hotel. Henri kept his promise and sent the flags back to Memphis where they line both sides
of the Holiday Inn’s corporate headquarters. Because of his success at Cape Canaveral, Holiday Inn promised Henri the property of his
choice. At this time, Henri learned that Disney would be developing a theme park in Orlando. He took his partner John Glenn to Memphis
to apply for a franchise license and came away with several for the Orlando area.
Clever Promotions and Public Relations through a Philanthropic Partnership
- Adopt a local charity that needs clothing for their poor and homeless clients. Dignity U Wear will distribute the clothing, pending an approval process, but your store will be credited in the community as supporting this worthwhile cause. This has been very profitable public relations for Stein Mart.
- Partner with a Brand to donate proceeds of sales on that product in your store to Dignity U Wear. Stein Mart does this with PVH, who makes a tag for the selected product indicating the partnership between the two entities and their support for DUW. Consumers feel even better about their purchase knowing that they are supporting a worthwhile cause.
- Throw a wine & cheese party at your store. Stein Mart employees sell $10 tickets for a tasting reception at their store on a slow night. Local restaurants are recruited to donate food and beverage. Between 100 and 500 customers and prospective customers come to the store to enjoy the fares and support Dignity U Wear, and they also get to shop!
- 150% Tax Credit when you donate excess clothing to Dignity U Wear. In addition to the positive PR spin your in-kind donation creates, retailers and manufacturers are also eligible for a 150% tax credit, which reduces their profit and lowers their taxes.
Henri Landwirth "Give Kids the World"
"With Give Kids the World, I found out that a girl died before she could go see Mickey Mouse, which was her last wish. She died because
it took about three months to make all the arrangements. Children who are terminally ill cannot wait three months. As a working partner
for five different hotels in Orlando, I felt that I could do something about it. I did a little investigating and found out that Disney
and the other parks were nervous about giving tickets away because of the bad publicity if dying children were refused or didn’t make it
on time. So by us coming in with Give Kids the World, we were the ones who were responsible to give them an opportunity – to be the
middleman. So I got all the tickets and told Disney that we needed to serve about 500 families a year. Well, I didn’t know what I was
talking about then. Right now, we are serving about 6,500 families a year. In twenty one years, we served about 91,000 families. We have
a village which is seventy acres. It is a whimsical village, and everything that is down there is for the children. And now we are
doubling the village. There are 96 villas. So from 96 villas, we will have 150. We have a playground there which is finished for the
children. And the Hasbro Company gave us $450,000 to build a giant, most beautiful playground for the kids. It cost us over a million
to finish it. GKTW is doing very well they are in great shape and they will be around for many years to come - which pleases me."
Henri Landwirth’s Holocaust Experiences
As a teenager, Henri Landwirth survived five Nazi death and labor camps, including Auschwitz, escaping death on several occasions. He tells of his experiences in rich detail in The Gift of Life (his autobiography which includes a foreward by Walter Cronkite and an afterward by Senator John Glenn) and Love & Hate: The Story of Henri Landwirth (written by Bill Halamandaris). Both books are available through contacting Dignity U Wear at 904.636.9455.
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