BY ELAINE WALKER
In honor of its 40th anniversary, El Dorado Furniture on Wednesday announced plans to launch a community-service campaign that will donate furniture to 40 needy South Florida families.

The ”40 Years, 40 Families” campaign was launched during a celebration Wednesday at El Dorado’s first store, which opened on Calle Ocho in Little Havana on June 27, 1967. Founder Manual Capó and his sons have grown the chain to 10 stores in the tri-county area and the largest Hispanic-owned furniture retailer in the United States. It’s a immigrant success story for the family, which fled Cuba in the 1960s on a sailboat christened “El Dorado.”


People can nominate themselves or submit nominations on behalf of anyone in the community. A committee of local media executives and community leaders will review the nominations and select two families each week until mid-November.

”We owe so much to South Florida and to this country,” said Pedro Capó, chief operating officer. “It’s time to give back to the community. What better way than to give people a better family environment.”

The winning families will be able to visit an El Dorado store to select up to $5,000 in furniture for their home, Capó said.

Applications for the program will be available in all El Dorado stores and starting next Monday at the website, www.40years40families.com

Applicants will be asked to explain in 250 words or less why the person or family needs the furniture.

A representative from The Miami Herald will be serving on the selection committee, and the newspaper is also a media sponsor of the program.