The flooring industry family gathered in Rocky Face, Georgia, on April 27 for Cocktails for a Cause, an evening of fellowship, fundraising and raising awareness, hosted by Mary Helen and Will Young, for Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF). FCIF's mission is to get families back on their feet when battling catastrophic injuries, severe disabilities, or other life-altering medical crises.

"We are excited to be here with our board members, donors and friends to educate people about the Floor Covering Industry Foundation," said FCIF Executive Director Andrea Blackbourn. "We help people who have catastrophic health conditions—some have late-stage cancer, they have a child born with a disability, they have something that makes them not able go to work, we have installers who have spent years working on their knees and they can't work anymore. We have given $800,000 to families across the country and right now we have 50 families who have open cases we are working with." 

The fundraiser is the first of a new series of events the FCIF plans to hold. 

"The idea is that we would have regional events across the country," said Will Young, fund development chair for FCIF and director of national accounts for Engineered Floors. "It's one of the most of the best-kept secrets in the country and we don't want to keep it a secret anymore."

At the event, Piet Doscche of Dossche Holdings and corporate secretary, FCIF, asked everyone at the event to donate and that he would personally match the first $15,000 raised that evening. 

"We did it!" Doscche said. "All of us in this room have been blessed by what this flooring industry has done for us. I think it's normal that when you achieve something that you give back."

To learn more about FCIF and to give back, visit fcif.org