WashingtonD.C.(November 21) – The Direct Selling Association will help kick off the 15th Annual TODAY Show Holiday Toy Drive on Monday, Nov. 24, at 8:30 a.m. by presenting the direct selling industry’s donation live in Rockefeller Plaza.

Thirty-two direct selling companies donated a total of more than $9 million in products to the Toy Drive. Of the 32 participating companies, seven will be featured in their own spots on the TODAY Show during the holiday season. In its five years of participation DSA member companies have donated more than $37 million in products, services and cash to the Toy Drive.

Participating companies donated items from books and fashion accessories to clothing and toiletries for children and families across the country.

“Participation in the Toy Drive is a natural fit for our member companies,” said Amy Robinson, DSA Vice President of Communications and Media Relations. “Every day, direct sellers help others achieve their goals through the products and opportunities they offer, but their involvement in charitable and philanthropic activities reinforces the positive impact direct selling has on millions of lives each year.”

The TODAY Show Toy Drive is a project of the Today Show Charitable Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are matched with the needs of 210 organizations with which the Today Show Charitable Foundation works. As part of this year’s Toy Drive, DSA member companies will send items to about dozens organizations in states from California to New York.

Companies from the smallest, newest member applicants to the largest, most established companies participated in this effort. Donations ranging from a handful of products to more than $2.5 million in products were received.

The following direct selling companies donated products to this year’s Toy Drive:

4Life
Advocare
Amway
Arbonne
Avon Products, Inc.
Blessings Unlimited
Butterfly Worldwide, LLC
Clever Container
Cookie Lee
Creative Memories
CUTCO
DeMarle at Home
DeTech
Essential Bodywear
Fifth Avenue Collection
The Happy Gardener
lia sophia
The Longaberger Company
Mary Kay Inc.
National Companies
Nature's Sunshine
Oxyfresh
The Pampered Chef
PartyLite Gifts
Purse Party, Inc.
Shaklee Corporation
Signature HomeStyles
Southern Living at Home
The Southwestern Company
Stampin' Up!
UDesign Jewelry
Vantel Pearls

DSA is the national trade association of the leading firms that manufacture and distribute goods and services sold directly to consumers. Among its more than 265 active and pending members are companies selling both via a party-plan method and in the traditional person-to-person style. In 2007, U.S. direct sales were more than $30.8 billion with more than 15 million direct sellers nationwide. The vast majority are independent business people – micro-entrepreneurs – whose purpose is to sell the product/service of the company they voluntarily choose to represent. Approximately 90 percent of direct sellers operate their business part-time.

For more information on direct selling, DSA and its Code of Ethics, please visit the DSA website at www.dsa.org.