Just Between Friends Community Impact Award
Tucson Company Receives National Recognition for Giving Back Just Between Friends Children’s Consignment Chosen for National “Community Impact Award” for its Donations to Tucson Charity “More Than a Bed” Father-Daughter Team Runs Local Children’s Consignment Event in Tucson
Tucson, Arizona – A small business in Tucson is receiving national recognition for giving back to the community in a big way. Shawna Wilfert and her father Danny Hansen, owners of Just Between Friends of Tucson (JBF), are the very first recipients of Just Between Friends’ brand new National Community Impact Award for their work with Tucson Charity, More Than a Bed, which provides support to foster families and their children to cover practical needs.
Just Between Friends Tucson began its partnership with More Than a Bed just two years ago. When JBF learned that the organization had critical needs for donations, they stepped in to help. That was one thing that stood out to the independent judges. The judges also cited the tremendous contribution JBF has already made to the charity. • $140,000 in in-kind and cash donations • A special, private presale event for families to shop at JBF • Donates gift certificates to ten families to offset the costs • Cash donations helped purchase cribs, beds, diapers and other necessities The charity said that the partnership with JBF “has exponentially increased our ability to bless countless families in our community.”
“As Just Between Friends we take corporate and social responsibility very seriously. It has been part of our mission from the beginning. We created this award to shine a spotlight on our franchisees who are giving back over and above what we might expect. Shawna and Danny truly make a difference in the lives of so many families in Tucson and we are honored to have them as part of our JBF family and are thrilled they received the first ever Community Impact Award,” explained Shannon Wilburn, CEO and CO-Founder of Just Between Friends Franchise Systems, Inc. Wilfert and Hansen have been helping families throughout Tucson save and make money for nine years. For more information or to schedule an interview with Shawna Wilfert, Danny Hansen or with JBF Co-founder and CEO Shannon Wilburn, contact Diane White at 918-770-3905 or DianeWhite@jbfsale.com. We can also provide photos and video. About Just Between Friends In 1997, Just Between Friends was created in a living room in Tulsa, Oklahoma when Shannon Wilburn, a mother of two young children, and her friend Daven Tackett hosted a sale with 17 friends as consignors and had gross sales of $2000. In 2016, that same sale hosted two events and grossed almost 1 million dollars. The sales caught on with families and grew, so in 2003, they formed Just Between Friends Franchise Systems, Inc. Wilburn is now sole owner and CEO of Just Between Friends Franchise Systems, Inc., which has 153 franchises in 30 states and one in Canada for a total of 154. System-wide sales in 2016 topped 29 million and they expect to top 31 million in 2017. For the last three years, Forbes Magazine named Just Between Friends one of the top ten franchises in the United States in the under $150,000 investment category. JBF was also named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 Franchises for the last five years. Just Between Friends Franchise Systems Inc. also received a “Franchisee Satisfaction Award” and was named in the Top 50 franchises by “Franchise Business Review” for the past seven of the last eight years. JBF has been featured on numerous national television shows including The Today Show, Good Morning America, Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvis, Fox News, CBS Early Show, ABC News, CNN, Headline News, Inside Edition and CNBC’s The Big Idea. They have also been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Inc.com as well as many top markets including Seattle, Minneapolis, Denver, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and Philadelphia and on popular websites www.yahoo.com, www.sheknows.com and Disney website www.family.com.