Home Publisher's Point of View Clean the World Gets a $1 Million Boost from Las Vegas Sands

Clean the World Gets a $1 Million Boost from Las Vegas Sands

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It was almost five years ago that I wrote about two guys—one based in Orlando (Shawn Seipler) and the other based in Houston (a friend of Shawn’s)—who were astounded by the volume of partially used bars of soap and shampoo that were thrown away by inns, hotels and resorts. They were so inspired to do something about it that they got together and formed Clean the World, the nonprofit now known industrywide for its success in collecting and converting used soap bars into new bars fit for distribution to those in need. Clean the World also collects and distributes shampoos, conditioners, lotions and gels from participating hospitality partners and organizes the assembling and distribution of hygiene kits that include nine different items.

Clean the World had a pretty good week last week, to say the least—thanks to the folks at Las Vegas Sands Corp. Las Vegas Sands (LVS) announced a $1 million donation to the nonprofit, the largest donation Clean the World has ever received. I spoke with Shawn Seipler, Executive Director of Clean the World, and he described the donation as a “pivot point opportunity.”

Clean the World currently has operations centers in Orlando, Las Vegas and Hong Kong. The donation will allow it to have a continuous flow soap production process in Las Vegas and Hong Kong, and improve its production facility in Orlando. New production line equipment will be purchased. In the past there were times when production had to shut down because of having to wait for just one new part. Now, it will be possible to have those backup parts on hand. The improvements will enable Clean the World to increase its global soap production and distribution to more than 6.5 million bars of soap annually.

Money Directed to Impactful Places

A good portion of the donation will go into equipment, trucks and facilities improvement. Another chunk will fund the building of 100,000 hygiene kits that will be designated for future disaster relief efforts around the world. The partnership with LVS also includes LVS team member volunteer time to build thousands of additional hygiene kits for distribution to homeless shelters and resource centers in local communities where LVS operates. Also, LVS will host a series of soap distribution trips, in which its team members will help Clean the World distribute soap in international destinations while providing hygiene education. On one of those trips Seipler said the goal will be to help create micro-enterprises—sustainable, job-creating ventures.

Clean the World is coming off a highly successful 2013 when it experienced 45 percent growth and added 98,000 new hotel rooms. (It now has 440,000 hotel rooms participating.) Last year it distributed close to 4 million bars of soap. There are now 2,200 lodging establishments sending soap and other items to Clean the World. “We continue to add hotels and partnerships,” Seipler says. “We are in discussions with several corporate flag partners.” Since it launched in 2009, Clean the World has been good for the environment, diverting 2,500 tons of “waste.”

When asked what has been behind the success of the organization that got its start in a garage, Seipler said, “It is a collective agreement of many stakeholders in the hospitality industry who have all said that this makes sense and it is something we want to do. I am grateful to be the mouthpiece to put this in front of people.”

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