February 2, 2007- For the winning Super Bowl team, the season’s journey will end in victory in Miami. But the losing team will be seen as winners in Africa for a long time, thanks to a partnership between the NFL and World Vision. The incorrectly titled but perfectly good losing team’s NFL-licensed apparel will bring joy to people living in extreme poverty in the coming months.

Since 1994, World Vision has been accepting hundreds of official shirts and hats from the Super Bowl. Instead of being disposed of, they are shipped from the event site to World Vision’s Gifts-in-Kind Distribution Center in Pittsburgh, PA. From Pittsburgh they join shipments of other goods requested by World Vision field staff and are then distributed to children and families living in extreme poverty. Many of these recipients have never owned a new shirt in their lives.

World Vision also receives the merchandise of other team that advance and win through the playoffs. Shirts are produced with the logos of all playoff teams. When teams are eliminated, those shirts are not salable and they become available for donation and use outside the United States.

Currently, World Vision is permitted to distribute these products in 25 African countries (all of which already receive other goods through World Vision’s Gifts-in-Kind delivery and distribution system). There are also four Eastern European countries in which World Vision distributes on a limited basis. In recent years, donations have gone to Sierra Leone, Niger, and Uganda.

World Vision also receives counterfeit goods that have been confiscated by law enforcement from different locations across the country. On confiscated goods received, World Vision must remove the tags and stamp each piece with our World Vision stamp on the inside of the article (using indelible ink). World Vision can only disburse the confiscated goods to pre-approved countries.

The licensed apparel donation program began in 1991 at the Storehouse of World Vision in Los Angeles. The first donor of confiscated goods to World Vision was Los Angeles Customs. World Vision expanded the program in the 1990s and began receiving goods from retailers. In the last three years, World Vision has received nearly $2,000,000 worth of confiscated products, benefiting tens of thousands of children.

About World Vision Gifts-in-Kind

Gifts-in-Kind (GIK) are a company's first-quality, excess inventory donated to assist those in need, and World Vision provides these goods to millions of people in need each year. World Vision works in 100 countries, half of which have duty free status to import donations, and through 11 U.S. sites, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Appalachia. In the past 5 years, World Vision has placed $1.1 billion of donated goods from major corporations, such as clothing, shoes, medical supplies, books, school supplies, personal care, sporting goods and building materials.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, please visit www.worldvision.org.

World Vision

World Vision

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision serves the poor regardless of a person's religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, visit www.worldvision.org.

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