DECEMBER 2014 ;e Costco Connection 21
supplier profile
By Christina Guerrero
WHEN IT COMES to children, monkey see,
monkey do. One of the things we need to do
as a culture is to teach children there are companies that give back to others, says Chrysti
Carol Propes, director of Costco supplier
Monkeez Makes a Difference.
“Monkeez Makes a Difference was created
to instill the value of philanthropy into chil-
dren across America,” says Propes, a mother of
two and former elementary school teacher. “As
a company we believe it’s our responsibility to
help children in today’s world.”
Monkeez Makes a Difference is a branch
of MVP Group International, the largest pri-
vate-label and contract manufacturer of can-
dles and fragrances in the world. The
family-owned and -managed business was
founded by Mary Van DeVenter Propes, Carol
Propes’ mother-in-law, who bought a run-
down 15,000-square-foot building in
Mayfield, Kentucky, in 1998. She planned to
clean up the building and sell or lease it.
The plan changed when Mary Propes
found 200,000 empty baby food jars inside
the building. On the advice of a business
acquaintance, she turned the baby food jars
into candles, and the business, well, ignited.
In 2011, when MVP Group International
acquired a plush-toy business, the family
knew they wanted to use it to give back to
others. They came up with a plan to donate a
percentage of all proceeds of their plush toys
to their partnering charity.
“Basically, we’re teaching children at a
young age how to help people,” says Bruce
Prince, vice president of global business
development at MVP Group International. “It
instills the charitable value in the child, and
really that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The pink and blue plush monkeys all
come with unique codes that can be entered
at
monkeezandfriends.com and allow children
to view videos about three charities: Best
Friends Animal Society, Alex’s Lemonade
Stand and Samaritan’s Purse International
Relief. Each child can then choose one of the
charities, and Monkeez Makes a Difference
Monkey
busıness
Monkeez Makes a Difference
teaches philanthropy can be
as easy as child’s play
will donate 10 percent of the wholesale cost of
the product to that charity.
“These were organizations that we felt
were important and continued that vision the
family had to give back the success they had,”
Prince says.
For 25 years Best Friends Animal Society
(
bestfriends.org), the nation’s largest no-kill
sanctuary, has provided training, medical
care and emotional healing for animals until
they are ready for adoption. Alex’s Lemonade
Stand (
alexslemonade.org) is dedicated to
childhood cancer research, and has raised
more than $80 million and funded over 450
research projects at leading institutions
across the country. And Samaritan’s Purse
International Relief (
samaritanspurse.org) is
a nondenominational Christian organization
providing education, food, clothing, clean
water and shelter to those who cannot help
themselves.
Along with donating to these charities,
MVP Group International will give an additional 5 percent to Children’s Miracle Network
and Children’s Hospital in Seattle for plush
monkeys purchased at Costco.
“In business we know that it’s critical
to align yourselves with a company that
believes like you do,” Propes says. “We are so
excited to join the Costco family this Christmas, and we’re also excited that you’re going
to be selling a product that gives twice.” C
“As a company
we believe it’s our
responsibility to help
children in today’s
world.”—Chrysti Carol Propes
In our digital editions
Click here to watch a video
of Chrysti Carol Propes.
(See page 11 for details.)
Company: MVP Group International
Founder: Mary Van DeVenter Propes
Employees: More than 4,000
Address: 1031 LeGrand Blvd.,
Charleston, SC 29492
Phone: (843) 216-8380
Websites:
mvpgroupint.com;
monkeezandfriends.com
Products at Costco: Monkeez Makes
a Difference plush monkeys
Comments about Costco:
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to
align with a company like Costco. We
appreciate Costco’s commitment to
making a difference in the lives of its
customers and around the world. It is
a blessing to work with a retailer with
philanthropic values and a huge heart
for giving back.”
—Chrysti Carol Propes, director of
Monkeez Makes a Difference
supplier profile
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