Chuck Kuhn has gone from moving trucks to moving bucks for charity, that is

The CEO of Sterling-based JK Moving and Storage, Kuhn, 41, has taken one of the areas most accomplished business success stories and written an entirely new chapter.

After achieving his childhood dream of creating best moving company in the business, Chuck and his brother Steve, JKs Executive Vice President, needed another challenge. 

Having already established themselves as the largest privately-owned moving and storage company in the area and one of the top ten such organizations in the country they turned their attention to the community. 

And so, through the years, they devoted countless agency hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to benefiting community programs, worthy causes and needy individuals.  In the process, these deeds earned the Kuhn brothers and JK Moving awards and accolades from such organizations as the Washington Business Journal, Better Business Bureau, Habitat for Humanity, and Ernst & Young.

But last year, Chuck and Steve Kuhn took the concept of giving back to the community to an entirely new level.

Selected by Washington developer and philanthropist Joseph E. Robert, Jr. to serve as chairman of Fight Night 2006, Washingtons most prominent and successful charity fundraiser, Chuck shattered all previous records, generating more than $2.4 million dollars through his personal and professional contacts, establishing in the process the largest single-year donation the event has ever generated.

And on the heels of that success, he was asked by Robert to chair the event once again, making Chuck the first chairman to serve consecutive terms since Robert founded the event back in 1990.

Itll be a tough act to follow, Kuhn joked.

But his success as a fundraiser was certainly no accident after all, he followed the same identical approach he adopted to building a business that he started as an enterprising 16-year-old in the basement of his parents suburban Virginia home 25 years ago. 

Ive surrounded myself with quality people vendors, employees and associates and adopted a philosophy where absolutely nothing is more important than customer service, he said.  Under Kuhns leadership, JK Moving and Storage has enjoyed 25 years of consecutive sales increases of 25 percent or more while maintaining profits in excess of 10 percent of sales.

To eclipse his Fight Night record, Kuhn followed another one of his basic tenants of involving quality people when he invited Fred Schaufeld, Chairman of NEW Customer Service Companies Inc., to serve as his co-chair for 2007.  Fred brings his own set of personal contacts and associates to our team, and Im hoping my expanded efforts along with new donations Fred can help generate will make the difference. Kuhn said.

Scheduled for Thursday night, November 8, at the Washington Hilton and Towers, Fight Night takes the form of a black-tie smoker, attracting 2,200 of the citys most powerful business, political, sports, entertainment and media elite for a night of camaraderie, professional boxing, legends of sport and top-notch entertainment.  Past legends of boxing include such names as Muhammad Ali, Hector Macho Camacho, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jake LaMotta, Evander Holyfield, Carmen Basilio, Joe Frazier and more.  Featured artists have included Chuck Berry, Charlie Daniels, the Pointer Sisters, and Jerry Lee Lewis.  The evening culminates with professional boxing matches.

Presented by Fight For Children, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization committed to increasing the number of urban youth who are prepared for post-secondary education and career opportunities, Fight Night is widely acclaimed as one of the area’s ultimate charity events. 

In addition to Fight Night, JK Moving & Storage has contributed to Home Team DC, Toys for Tots, March of Dimes, Katrina Relief, Womens & Girls Tech Foundation, Boy Scout Troop 982, Hamilton Fire Department, COPE (Western Loudoun Teen Center), and Junior League of Washington.