Cindy Crawford Accepts New Role as Charity Challenge Ambassador
For the past decade, Cindy Crawford’s expertise on beauty and fashion has been channeled into the creation of a stylish furniture line, Cindy Crawford Home, while both her authority on design and a prudent partnership with Art Van Furniture over the last seven years has ensured commercial success. Now the Midwest’s largest furniture retailer is making big news by furthering its philanthropic mission, a goal for which Cindy is excited to collaborate.
Art Van’s “A Shining Star Event,” celebrating the retailer’s 55th anniversary, took place October 29th at its Logan Square location in Chicago. In addition to attendance by Cindy Crawford, the “star-studded soiree where style, beauty, fashion, and charity” came together was headlined by Hilary Farr, host of HGTV’s Love It or Leave It, and Nigel Barker, host of Oxygen Network’s The Face. They were joined by founder Art Van Elslander, whose furniture retail company now includes 94 stores and over 3,200 employees.
In addition to being a large regional employer, Art Van Furniture engages with the community through its extensive charitable affiliations. The retailer’s website reports, “Mr. Van Elslander’s philanthropic efforts have raised $17 Million for charities in our local communities over the last five years, with a special focus on assisting families, children and the hungry. Art Van Furniture provides support to non-profit organizations such as Forgotten Harvest, Gleaners Community Food Bank, The Henry Ford Health System, Genesys Health Foundation, St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation, and America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition, Art Van Furniture is proud to host fundraising events for our Million Dollar Charity Challenge recipients, annual toy collection drives for Toys for Tots and blood drives for the American Red Cross.”
A long-time partner of Art Van and a celebrated philanthropist in her own right, Cindy Crawford is the perfect high-profile figure to take on the role of Art Van Charity Challenge Ambassador. The highlight of the “Shining Star” celebration was her acceptance of the new position and the announcement that $1 million in grants would be awarded to nonprofits in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio next year. We are excited to see this bold new initiative unfolding in our city and the Midwest, and look forward to following Cindy’s work in this new position of leadership.
