Rent-A-Center Donates Furniture to Harvey-Affected Houston, Sends Water and Supplies to Coworkers Affected by Hurricane Maria

October 23, 2017 at 11:01 AM EDT

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2017-- Rent-A-Center, Inc., (RAC) a rent-to-own industry leader, recently furnished 44 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, teaming up with Houston’s Tarantino Properties Inc., a management firm offering low-rent apartments to those displaced after Hurricane Harvey.

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Rent-A-Center coworker delivers donated furniture to apartments where Harvey evacuees are being plac ...

Rent-A-Center coworker delivers donated furniture to apartments where Harvey evacuees are being placed. (Photo: Business Wire)

After assessing available apartments, Tarantino worked quickly to contact several companies for discounted furniture packages. When they called Rent-A-Center, corporate leaders offered to instead donate the furniture to help those hit hard by the flooding.

“We have furnished all the apartments to the point where they are now move-in ready so people can walk through the door with nothing but the clothes on their back,” said Jonathan Parks, V.P. of Logistics and Distribution for RAC. “As a former Houstonian, I am thrilled that we as a company are able to help in a dire time of need.”

Earlier this month RAC also shipped two ocean containers with 40,000 bottles of water and much needed food and supplies to Puerto Rico to aid coworkers affected by Hurricane Maria. The ocean containers, which arrived last week, were distributed amongst all coworkers immediately to help meet their needs.

Rent-A-Center also teamed up with Caribbean Shipping Services to support Hunger Fight, a non-profit based in Florida that provides pre-packaged, nutritionally balanced meals to those in need. Rent-A-Center coworkers from Jacksonville, Fla., helped package the meals and load them on ocean containers heading to Puerto Rico. As of today, about 30,000 packaged meals were en route.

“On behalf of all Puerto Rico coworkers, MUCHAS GRACIAS,” wrote Efrain Maldonado, Regional Director for RAC Puerto Rico, in an email to company leadership. “Our coworkers truly appreciate the fact that our company has continued our full pay since the hurricane, even though most of our stores were damaged and very few are open 4 weeks later. Everywhere I go I let people know what RAC has done for me and my team. People need to know that this is a great company and we live by our mission. Our road to recovery has begun. Like I tell my coworkers, ‘One day at a time.’”

About Rent-A-Center

A rent-to-own industry leader, Plano, Texas-based, Rent-A-Center, Inc., is focused on improving the quality of life for its customers by providing them the opportunity to obtain ownership of high-quality, durable products under flexible rental purchase agreements with no long-term obligation. For additional information about the Company, please visit our website at www.rentacenter.com.

Source: Rent-A-Center, Inc.

Rent-A-Center, Inc.
Gina Hethcock, 972-801-1424
Sr. Manager, Public and Community Relations