Marketplace impact

By Joan Drammeh

When 290 meeting planners and more than 500 suppliers gather in a city for multiple room nights, there’s bound to be an economic stimulus. According to the Greater Birmingham CVB, the 2009 Rejuvenate Marketplace generated $704,000 in visitor spending in Birmingham, Ala., Oct. 28-30. But there was also a contribution of another kind — 100 bikes and trikes were donated to the Greater Birmingham Ministries (GBM).

The build-a-bike service project booth, sponsored by Visit Milwaukee, was open throughout the three-day conference. Conventioneers took time out of their busy appointment schedules to assemble the training wheels for the bikes, gifts for lucky children selected by GBM, an interfaith organization dedicated to bringing faith communities together to serve the less fortunate.

“Greater Birmingham Ministries is very appreciative that Rejuvenate chose us,” says Rose Jones, direct service chair of the ministry. “The bikes you donated and put together will go to make many children happy at Christmas. May God bless and keep you all.”

Jones enjoys working for the GBM’s Direct Services branch, which provides clothes, food, emergency financial services and Christmas assistance to those in need.

“We’ve received 250 applications for Christmas assistance this year and the bikes will be used to fill those requests,” she says. “During our intake for holiday assistance I spoke to many people that had never asked for assistance and were broken hearted that they had to now. The children who will receive the bikes come from hardworking, loving families that are just trying to make ends meet. They have mothers that just want their children to have a nice Christmas like other children.”

Jones is inspired by people who are committed to the cause of the needy and considers it a pleasure to work beside people at GBM. “They really care and that’s not something you can pay a person to do,” she says. “They are people of faith who are dedicated to seeing things change for the better. The Bible says that he who does the least does also unto God. I believe that and I know that my coworkers do as well.”

View the service-project slideshow on Flickr.

Checkout planners and suppliers in action on the tradeshow floor in our Photo Gallery.