Salt Lake City, UT— Air Terminal GIFTS, the Salt Lake City-based company that operates 16 stores in the Salt Lake City International Airport, will be donating $13,000 to Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Utah this month. The donation is being made as part of the Air Terminal GIFTS program. GIFTS is an acronym for guidance, integrity, freedom, transformation and self-sufficiency. This is the third consecutive year that Air Terminal GIFTS has donated funds to Catholic Community Services of Utah. In the previous two years, the donation amount was $12,000 per year The donation is part of a philanthropic effort put forward by the family owned company to support local nonprofit organizations. Catholic Community Services of Utah was established by the diocese in 1945 to address the human needs of families and individuals in the most desperate of circumstances, without regard to race religion or any other factor. The organization has a wide array of programs that feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, welcome the immigrant and the refugee, counsel the troubled, and protect the vulnerable. "At Air Terminal GIFTS, several of our employees originally came to this country as refugees. In fact, about half of our 155 employees are originally from other countries. Many of these employees first real introduction to the United States came from Catholic Community Services of Utah, so our company has a real affection for this very important nonprofit organization," Air Terminal GIFTS CEO Kathy Crismon said. According to outgoing Catholic Community Services Executive Director Maggie St. Claire, "Catholic Community Services of Utah settles refugees from all over the world. How wonderful it is that Air Terminal GIFTS steps forward to help them become self sufficient in their new home. It truly creates a global village right here in Salt Lake City." In 2006, Air Terminal GIFTS donated $48,000 to area nonprofit organizations. In 2007, that amount has increased to $60,000, and in 2008, it will increase to $65,000. Air Terminal GIFTS originated when Bill and Lucille Crismon won a bid to open a gift shop boutique and newsstand at the Salt Lake City International Airport. Today, the company is still owned by the Crismon family, and is now under the direction of Tom Crismon (son of Bill and Lucille) and his wife, Kathy. Air Terminal GIFTS’ 16 stores currently occupy 17,000-square-feet, or 70 percent of the available retail space in the Salt Lake City International Airport. Air Terminal GIFTS’ stores include Your Planet (environmentally and socially friendly products), Zeta & Company (women’s fashion), West of Brooklyn (Native American Jewelry, newsstand, fashion, collectibles), Vistas (merchandise unique to Utah and the Southwest), Crismon’s News & Views (magazines, books, snacks) and On the Fly Urban Market (upscale convenience store).
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