Giving Back: Nashville Shop Donates Wrap to Local Nonprofit

Nashville, Tennessee-based IES-formerly Ingram Express Services, announces that it has donated the design and installation of new graphics for a bus for Mother to Mother, a Nashville charity that works with hospitals and other agencies to collect and distribute items such as car seats, pack ‘n plays, diapers and clothing to families in need.

IES is a full-service sign shop that also does vehicle wraps.

Randy Smith, who is the co-founder of Smith Travel Research, a business located in nearby Hendersonville, recently gifted a transport bus to the nonprofit, but at the time the bus was covered with someone else’s logo.

IES says it had been looking for a charity to support, so it contacted Mother to Mother, had the bus brought to the shop, and designed and installed the all-new wrap and then unveiled it in front of its employees, some vendors, and representatives from Mother to Mother.

“We are really excited about what’s happening here,” IES general manager Scott Schweitzer told the crowd. “We decided as a company we were looking for someone to partner with and one of our valued partners introduced us to Mother to Mother and the response has been fantastic.”

Janie Busbee, founder of Mother To Mother, says she was surprised not only by the generous offer to design and install the new graphics, but that IES had worked with vendors and neighboring businesses to fill the bus with needed items including diapers, pack ‘n plays and blankets.

“It’s gorgeous,” Busbee told the gathering. “It captures what I want everybody to know when I drive down the street, which is that we do provide, so that we can nurture families to help them thrive. I love it and it’s happy. I just love everything about it.”

IES estimated the bus was full of nearly $7,000 worth of items that Mother To Mother can distribute to families in need.

Schweitzer says he also wanted to thank IES owner Adam Ingram and his wife, Ann, for  making his team’s effort possible.

“It’s always a little nerve-racking when you go up to the owner and say that you want to take money from him and just give it out to the community, but he didn’t hesitate at all and we couldn’t be happier with how it came out,” Schweitzer said.

“With the growth of IES, we have been so fortunate, and we are at the point where we are able to give back,” Adam Ingram said. “The next step for us is to figure out how to keep this great relationship going with Mother to Mother. We will stay in touch with them, learn what their needs are and do everything we can to help them out, whether it be printing needs or hosting diaper drives.”

Jeanine Garner, Mother To Mother’s executive director, says the bus will not only serve as a great marketing tool but it will greatly expand the geographic reach of her organization.

“We couldn’t really reach the outlying areas before, because we didn’t have a way to transport needed items,” Garner said. “Now we can have ‘stuff the bus’ events and we will be able to get donated items back to our warehouse and more importantly, out to the families who need them most.”