(April 15th, 2020 – Tampa, Fla.) — Creative Loafing (CL) has teamed up with local businesses on a purchase now, use later program where full price gift certificates are available online and is making it easy for locals to make gift certificate donations to Tampa Bay area non-profits to support families in need.
Local businesses need our support right now, and with your help, we can keep our beloved community partners afloat. That’s why CL has teamed up with some of your favorite local businesses to bring you Living Local Certificates: Support Now, Use Later. Once a purchase is made, CL will be sending the money directly to the local businesses now—when they can use it the most—for redemption once everyone’s doors are fully open again.
For those not interested in making a purchase for themselves to use at a later date, CL has teamed up with three local non-profits to easily donate certificates to families in need. By partnering with Children’s Cancer Center, Children’s Home Network, and Current Initiatives’ Laundry Project, CL’s goal is to to help give back to those who need it more than ever right now while assisting local businesses with sales during these unprecedented times.
For complete details on Living Local Certificates: Support Now, Use Later, visit cltampa.com/livinglocal
How it works:
• Create an account on CL Deals to begin purchasing certificates by visiting cldeals.com/register (or, if you’re already a CL Deals user, simply log into your account to begin purchasing). CL Deals is Creative Loafing’s half off local platform where you can typically purchase deals to local businesses at 50% off or more. Half off certificates are sill available for purchase via the Eats and Goods tabs of cldeals.com.
• Now through May 15th, purchase full price certificates in the “Living” section of the CL Deals site to support your favorite local businesses who are dependent on income now during these trying times. New certificate options will be added daily.
• Starting May 16th, begin using your certificate purchases for delicious food, unique services, and more!
How to gift:
• After you purchase a certificate, click on the certificates button in the upper righthand corner of your page; this will display all of your purchased certificates.
• Next to the certificate you’d like to gift, click the button “SEND AS GIFT”
• Enter the e-mail address contact of the non-profit you’d like to gift to:
• The Children’s Cancer Center: amyers@childrenscancercenter.org
• Children’s Home Nextwork: lruiz@childrenshomenetwork.org
• Current Initiatives’ Laundry Project: jason@engagethecurrent.org
• Please allow up to 60 seconds for the page to load and the gift to process. Once successful, you will receive a “Your gift has been sent.” message in the upper left hand corner of the page. The non-profit contact will handle distributing your certificate directly to a family in need right now!
For assistance with gifting, or if you’re a local business interested in selling certificates, please contact Alexis Chamberlain at alexis@cltampa.com. Complete details on the Living Local Certificates program and how to donate can be found at cltampa.com/livinglocal
About The Children’s Cancer Center (CCC)
A non-profit organization dedicated to serving families of children who are battling cancer or chronic blood disorders, CCC provides emotional, financial, and educational support necessary to cope with their life-threatening illness. Their new #FuelingFamilies Campaign helps ensure families have gas in the car and food on the table to provide for their children. Donating a gift certificate to The Children’s Cancer will go directly to the family of an immunocompromised child. To gift to CCC, gift your certificate purchase to Ashley Myers: amyers@childrenscancercenter.org
About Children’s Home Network (CHN)
More than 800 children in Hillsborough County—newborns to 17 years old—currently live in licensed foster care as a result of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. CHN’s Fostering Families team of professionals is exclusively committed to recruiting, licensing, and supporting foster families, striving to keep siblings together, while providing safety and permanency through reunification and family restoration. Donating a gift certificate to Children’s Home Network will go directly to a foster family. To gift to CHN, gift your certificate purchase to Lauren Ruiz: lruiz@childrenshomenetwork.org
About Current Initiatives’ Laundry Project (Current)
Clean laundry is not just an on-going financial burden for many families, but also a contributing factor to health and wellness. Right now, Current Initiatives’ Laundry Project initiative is working with local city authorities to provide laundry services to lower-income families and hospitality workers currently out of work. Donating a gift certificate to Current Initiatives’ Laundry Project will go directly to a family in need. To gift to Current, gift your certificate purchase to Jason Sowell: jason@engagethecurrent.org
About Creative Loafing
Creative Loafing is an award-winning alternative, weekly newspaper and website committed to providing Tampa Bay with an independent perspective, up-to-the-minute local news, and a comprehensive listing of local happenings. Creative Loafing offers readers’ unique monthly events and CL Deals, a locally focused platform featuring dining and event experiences at half-off their regular price. For more information about Creative Loafing, visit cltampa.com and cldeals.com.