Meet 350+ Suppliers. Find New Products. Source Inventory. All at ASI Show Chicago, July 23-25.   Register Now.

News

Axis Promotions’ Larry Alford Distributes Promo-Filled Backpacks To Migrant Children

Top 40 distributor Axis Promotions (asi/128263) is known for spreading goodwill, whether it’s participating in charity runs, celebrating women’s empowerment or simply handing out money to random folks on the New York City streets.

The company took a step further last week when Larry Alford, vice president of sales, and his wife Jordana traveled to San Antonio, Texas. There, they worked with a local church group to fill backpacks with supplies for migrant children who have been released from detention centers and reunited with their families. The families were then brought to the bus station in San Antonio to travel to their host family, who can be anywhere in the United States.

Alford and his wife visited the bus station, distributing backpacks filled with a coloring book and crayons, a blanket, a small stuffed animal, toiletries and snacks for the families’ trip on the bus. “It was heart wrenching to realize these parents and children still had no idea what their future looked like,” Alford told Counselor. “However, they were so grateful to be given a bag of essentials and to see our caring and loving faces. Hopefully, we brought some hope to them about their futures.”

Alford and his wife also met with community leaders and activists on the front lines, trying to end the separation of families that has been going on for months. In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department would begin prosecuting every person who crossed the Southwest border illegally. “If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you,” Sessions said in a pair of speeches in Arizona and California, The Washington Post reported. “If you smuggle an illegal alien across the border, then we’ll prosecute you. If you’re smuggling a child, then we’re going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you, probably, as required by law. If you don’t want your child separated, then don’t bring them across the border illegally.”

Of about 2,550 children ages 5 to 17 who were removed from their parents after crossing the U.S.'s southern border, more than 570 are still in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and in government shelters, according to a federal court filing last Thursday.

“We are all so fortunate to have what we do in life,” Alford said. “We are also fortunate to work for a company where this type of community work is in our DNA. This is just one way we at Axis make a difference.”