[November 05, 2014]

Spirited Cintas Employee Making a Difference

The Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) has a longstanding history of working to help those in need. As part of its commitment to being a good corporate citizen, Cintas has joined Matthew 25: Ministries in many philanthropic missions. More than 1.5 million people worldwide have received Cintas aid through Matthew 25: Ministries programs, in every circumstance ranging from disaster relief to food, water, clothing and education.

Since 2003, Cintas employee-partners have been the driving force behind the success of the Cintas Clothe the Kids campaign. Clothe the Kids takes place at more than 300 Cintas facilities across North America throughout the year. The aid is packaged by Cintas and then further distributed to the neediest families and children by Cincinnati-based Matthew 25: Ministries, a 501(c)(3) non-profit humanitarian aid organization. Together, they have donated over 2.3 million articles of clothing that have impacted needy children in over 30 countries, including the United States.

As a member of this year's top contributing location, Cintas employee-partner Brian Adkins worked to bring the lion's share of garments to the company totals. Brian is a partner that has demonstrated a deep passion and willingness to go above and beyond for those in need. As co-champion of the drive for his location, Brian began soliciting donations for Clothe the Kids simply by posting a call to action on social media. He also ued traditional methods including personal phone calls, hand delivering flyers, and personally visiting businesses, and churches all around the Tri-State to spread the story of the need for this clothing drive. Each time he spotted a yard sale, Brian stopped to see if the sellers would be interested in donating what was not sold, leaving his name and number so he could be contacted to return and retrieve the items. "Brian quickly began building a contact list but more importantly a reputation of someone that could be trusted and really cared deeply about children and others" shared Leigh Wallen, DC Manager the Cintas Ashland IMDC, located in Grayson, KY.

The important relationships Brian forged with those who contributed to his campaign have led to their annual dedication to helping Brian and Cintas reach their goal for Clothe the Kids. The clothing drive has evolved into something of a larger scale than Brian ever imagined. He was no longer helping the world's neediest children, but now he was receiving donations that ultimately were helping all of human kind, people in distress, those who had suffered and survived. Brian was now receiving donations of furniture and household items that he determined could be used to help out families in need after house fires, floods and tornadoes. In 2014, Brian helped four families with appliances and clothing after they experienced the destruction of a house fire. Brian's daily routine is to wake up early and travel across the Tri-State area to pick up donations before he begins his own workday. "Brian is an example of the character, compassion, and care for others that we at Cintas pride ourselves in having. Such goodwill is an important piece of our story, an element of our tradition, the essence of our business," expressed Cintas CEO Scott Farmer when reflecting on the 94,795 pieces of clothing Brian Adkins has contributed to the Cintas Clothe the Kids drive since 2011. He and his wife have become passionate about "paying it forward", and use their own home and basement as their "helping headquarters". Brian has never tracked the amount of clothing or furniture that he has given away, but is very thankful to be in a position to help others with his dedication to "Clothe the Kids" and Matthew 25: Ministries.

About Cintas

Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types primarily throughout North America. Cintas designs, manufactures and implements corporate identity uniform programs, and provides entrance mats, restroom supplies, first aid, safety and fire protection products and services. Cintas is a publicly held company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.

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