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“Take Your Jeans Off” for a Good Cause with the Levi's Brand and Goodwill Industries

Jeans Exchange Program Kicks Off The Levi’s Brand Annual “501 Day”

April 21, 2008

San Francisco - When shoppers take their jeans off between April 24 and May 1 and bring them to select Levi’s® stores nationwide, they’ll receive a 20 percent discount off a new pair of Levi’s jeans.  The denim collected during Levi’s “Take Your Jeans Off” campaign will be donated to Goodwill Industries® to be sold in local Goodwill® stores.  Proceeds from the sales will help fund Goodwill job training programs that benefit hundreds of thousands of people each year.  The “Take Your Jeans Off” program is part of Levi’s long-standing commitment to community involvement and is intended to encourage customer participation in Levi’s annual “501® Day”.

“Social responsibility and supporting local communities are corporate values that have been woven deeply into the fabric of Levi Strauss & Co. since the company was founded more than 150 years ago,” says Mark Breitbard, president of Levi’s® Brand, Retail.  “Partnering with Goodwill Industries this year is exciting because it gives consumers the opportunity to join in this tradition by donating their used jeans to support Goodwill’s job training and career advancement programs.”

“When you clean out your closet for Goodwill, you are investing in your community by supporting employment programs that benefit people who want to work but need Goodwill’s help to find a job,” say Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.  “And at the same time, thanks to Levi’s, you are benefiting from great savings on new Levi’s jeans.”

The Levi’s Brand’s partnership with Goodwill Industries is part of Levi’s annual “501® Day” volunteer efforts.  In San Francisco, Goodwill assistant store managers will “shadow” Levi Strauss & Co. employees at the Levi’s Store in Union Square to learn about everything from store operations and greeting customers to stocking the displays.  The Goodwill managers, who also train program participants for jobs in the retail industry, will then apply their lessons learned to the Goodwill program.

Levi Strauss & Co. employees have a rich history in volunteerism.  Employees at Levi Strauss & Co. contribute more than 40,000 hours of service each year on 64 Community Involvement Teams around the world. 

“501 Day” is a day to encourage both employees and consumers across the country to take part in a variety of volunteer activities.  Held each year on May 1 (5/01), the name “501 Day” is adopted from the legendary Original 501 jean which was invented by Levi Strauss & Co. in 1873.  On May 1, hundreds of employees from Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters and offices across the country will volunteer with nonprofit organizations in their local communities.  Employees will participate in dozens of programs from providing companionship to isolated elders through the Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly organization to gardening at the AIDS Memorial Grove.  

Read more about the Take Your Jeans Off campaign and the heritage of Levi Strauss & Co.

For free broadcast-quality video, visit www.thenewsmarket.com/Goodwill.