The new IKEA store in Centennial celebrated its first holiday season by donating more than $71,000 and thousands of toys in December. IKEA Centennial coworkers and customers donated $61,129 to UNICEF and Save the Children through the Soft Toys for Education Campaign. One euro (approximately $1.35 USD) from every soft toy, children's book or kid's meal sold during the nine weeks before Christmas is donated to the organizations through the IKEA Foundation. Globally, this campaign raised approx EUR 11.4 million to provide books, classrooms and teachers to nearly 2.8 million children in 20 countries.

IKEA Centennial expanded this program to include a donation sleigh at the store allowing coworkers and customers a place to drop off toys and furniture items to local organizations Toys for Tots and the Tennyson Center for Children in Denver. More than 1,100 toys and items were ultimately donated to these deserving organizations.

Additionally, the store followed up on its grand opening promise to donate $10,000 in furniture to one of its partner nonprofits, Family Tree. In early December, IKEA delivered a van packed full of new bunk beds, mattresses, sofas, chairs and accessories to the Family Tree's 30-bed House of Hope - a shelter for homeless women and children giving them a chance to get back on their feet.

"The IKEA mission is to create a better everyday life for the many people. At IKEA Centennial we are dedicated to giving back to the local community while being regarded as a socially responsible company," stated Store Manager Kelly Frieze.

IKEA Centennial plans on another $10,000 redesign for the Mi Casa Resource Center's Neighborhood Center at Lake Middle School in Denver in the next few months.