Citizen Commitment Week

ADN, or Agence du Don en Nature (Donations in kind agency), act as an intermediary between companies with unsold stock and organisations who help people in difficulty. Supported by the Société Générale since 2010, their aim for 2011 is to redistribute some ten million euros' worth of new, non-food products to one million people in need.

Interview with the general manager of Agence du Don en Nature, Stéphanie Goujon.

Tell us about your organisation.

The organisation was created in 2008 following a shocking revelation: 400 million euro's worth of new, non-food products are destroyed each year, whilst 8 million people in France live below the poverty line. After investigating the real, everyday needs of organisations, we approach manufacturers and collect their unsold goods, whether from surplus special offers, end of line stock, new packaging, etc. This covers a wide spectrum of products: shower gels, saucepans, toys, printers, underwear, and so on.

Who benefits from your work?
 
Within the ADN, we set up services according to the type of population group in need: children, single-parent families, disabled people, young people seeking social reintegration, and so on. For example, in order to help the latter to find employment, we track down IT equipment as well as clothes, makeup, and shoes to wear to interviews.

Tell us about the partnership you have with Société Générale.

As well as financial support, this partnership gives us the chance to meet Société Générale's associates so that they can pass our message on to their client organisations and we can make a name for ourselves. This contact is extremely important to us.

What more can be done to help you?

Associates can either help us by becoming voluntary ambassadors for ADN ¿ their role being to put us in contact with organisations in the field ¿ or by telling their clients about us who, as businesses, may have unsold stock (disposable nappies, school stationery, household linen, etc.). ADN offers a reliable and community-minded alternative for dealing with unsold stock.

You are based in the Paris area; can your associates from other regions still show their support?

Yes. As with what we have done in Marseille and what we will soon be doing in Lyon, our associates can put us in contact with any organisations they know, wherever they may be.
On the 7th April, ADN received the `Trophée INSEAD' award in the social initiative category, rewarding an individual who, within a foundation, an institution and a business, has succeeded in establishing a new socio-political concept which accounts for variety, diversity and equality.

To find out more about ADN, visit www.adnfrance.org

Extracted from SogéNEWS