PUDO and GiveBack Canada Empowers Canadians to Make a Difference from a Distance by Donating Gently Used Clothing to The Salvation Army Thrift Store

TORONTO, Feb. 2, 2021 /CNW/ – PUDO Inc. (“PUDO” or “the Company”) (CSE: PDO) (OTCQB: PDPTF), North America’s only carrier-neutral parcel pick-up and drop-off counter Network, invites Canadians to donate from a distance through the Company’s GiveBack Canada program. By partnering with The Salvation Army Thrift Store, National Recycling Operations (NRO), PUDO gives Canadians an opportunity to ship donations of unwanted clothing and footwear free of charge from any PUDOpoint Counters location.

With gently used clothing and household items needed more than ever to help care for struggling members of our shared communities, the partnership between GiveBack Canada and NRO enables Canadians to declutter and make a difference during COVID-19 restrictions by providing an alternative path to donate.

“What many Canadians don’t want, The Salvation Army badly needs,” says PUDO CEO Frank Coccia. “Through our coast-to-coast Network of PUDOpoint Counters, and our in-place reverse logistics system, we are uniquely able to help restore donations of unwanted clothing and footwear to pre-COVID levels by offering no-cost and contactless shipping to donors.”

As countless Canadians across the country struggle to feed and clothe their families during the winter months, the support that NRO provide to community services that vulnerable Canadians rely on are in jeopardy as NRO locations in Ontario and Quebec are temporarily closed and unable to accept the donations that sustain these services.

Donations of gently used clothing and household items enable The Salvation Army Thrift Store to offer savings on essential items while also providing direct assistance to those in need. Over $4.2 million worth of clothing and household items were given free of cost to individuals and families living in poverty through The Salvation Army’s social services voucher program last year.

“Through 40,510 voucher redemptions, vulnerable Canadians were given dignity to shop for essential items that they otherwise could not afford,” says Ted Troughton, Managing Director of NRO. “We are honored to give donations the power to truly make a difference for individuals and for our communities.”

NRO is one of Canada’s largest national clothing recyclers, and through a network of over 100 stores and 11 distribution and recycling centres, the non-profit organization provides consistent and stop-gap assistance to almost two million Canadians annually. NRO is supported by more than 14 million guests (shoppers) and donors annually, but has suffered due to COVID-19 health and safety measures that have impacted the organization’s ability to accept donations.

“We have been working with NRO for just over a year to understand how best to leverage our Canadian Network of over 700 PUDOpoint Counters to help the iconic Canadian charity initiate new clothing and footwear donation streams that exist outside of their bricks and mortar locations,” says Coccia.

For millions of home-bound Canadians, COVID-19 related restrictions represent opportunities to clean out closets and downsize wardrobes, and to re-purpose cardboard e-commerce shipping boxes. Pre-COVID, e-commerce cardboard packing material consumed the equivalent of one billion trees annually in North America alone, with much of that cardboard ending up in landfills.

By requiring donations to be shipped in cardboard boxes, which are then 100% recycled by NRO once received, the GiveBack Canada program is helping to further reduce environmental impact beyond the initial act of retail recycling through donating.

By piggybacking on their existing returns logistics Network, PUDO consolidates donations at the community level and ships sealed boxes of gently used clothing and footwear from major Canadian cities to regional warehouses. From there, donations are sorted and re-distributed to The Salvation Army Thrift Store, at absolutely no cost to Canadians, where they help care for neighbours in need and provide support to Salvation Army community programs and services that are needed more than ever.

Find a PUDOpoint Counter location and print a free shipping label at www.givebackcanada.ca to help Canadians rebuild from the impact of COVID-19.

About GiveBack Canada
GiveBack Canada (GBC) is a COVID-19 pandemic related supply chain crisis-response initiative of PUDO Inc – North America’s only carrier-neutral parcel pick-up and drop-off Counter Network.  The GBC program utilizes almost 500 of its PUDOpoint Counters located in major centres, in all provinces across Canada, plus the Company’s established return logistics Network, to facilitate the coast-to-coast undertaking.  GBC facilitates the collection, consolidation, and distribution of badly needed, gently used and new clothing and footwear to participating Canadian charities who rely on thrift store donations and revenues to fund critical community outreach programs, but whose donation centres and store fronts have been impacted by COVID-19.

Follow GiveBack Canada on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

About PUDO Inc.
PUDO Inc. is North America’s only carrier-neutral parcel pick-up and drop-off counter Network, conceived to resolve the last-mile parcel-traffic-control gridlock that challenges North America’s$827B retail e-commerce sector, and eliminate over $6B in door-dropped parcel theft.

PUDO’s team of logistics and parcel traffic management experts have created a plug-and-play, pay-as-you-go platform and Network of parcel pick-up and drop-off storefront counters known as PUDOpoint Counters, strategically located very near to where people live, work and play.

The PUDO model reduces or eliminates crippling last-mile related expenses for online retailers, marketplaces and carrier/delivery partners, with fulfillment and distribution solutions that include parcel storage and consolidation for click-and-collect deliveries, online returns, and the nearly 35% of e-commerce parcels that are undeliverable on first attempt.

Membership in the PUDOpoint Counters Network program offers consumers ‘parcel receipt certainty,’ early/late/weekend pick-up and return convenience, 100% elimination of door-drop parcel theft, and a mobile home-away-from-home address Network that goes wherever they do.

The PUDOpoint Counters Network provides all carriers, retailers, and consumers with badly needed cost controls, choice, and convenience.

To signup for PUDO News Feed please subscribe at https://www.pudopoint.com/en/news.

For more information about the PUDOpoint Counters Network, please visit www.pudopoint.com 

About The Salvation Army Thrift Store
The Salvation Army Thrift Store, National Recycling Operations (NRO) operates over 100 stores across Canada. NRO’s role, within the context of The Salvation Army, is both to generate funds to help The Salvation Army achieve its mission, and make a positive impact in our communities by offering savings on gently used clothing and household items and contributing to environmental sustainability through reuse and recycling. As part of Canada’s largest non-governmental provider of social services, The Salvation Army Thrift Store relies upon the generous donations of Canadians to help support those in need and build stronger communities.

For more information:

May Strutt
National Communications and Engagement Specialist, The Salvation Army Thrift Store
Email: [email protected] | Office: 905.825.9208 ext. 200

Information in this press release that is not current or historical factual information may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of securities laws, such as statements regarding estimated revenues from new contracts, increased parcel volume, activation and implementation of PUDO’s technology and possible future expansions of PUDO’s operations. This information is based on current expectations and assumptions of management, including assumptions concerning PUDO’s ability to integrate its new customers into its network and successfully execute on its new and existing contracts. The use of any of the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “plan”, “intend”, “can”, “will”, “should”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Risks, uncertainties, and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, without limitation, uncertainties with respect to service implementation, the economic results of the relationship on the operations of the Company, changes in general economic, market, or business conditions, and those risks set out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR. This press release, in particular the information in respect of estimated revenues, may contain future-oriented financial information or financial outlook within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such future-oriented financial information or financial outlook has been prepared for the purpose of providing information about management’s reasonable expectations as to the anticipated results of its proposed business activities. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by law.

SOURCE PUDO Inc.