Businessman Gives Space to Needy

Some people give money. Some people give their time. Irshad-Ul-Haque gives space.

Haque, 56, runs Stor It All, a public self-storage facility in Los Feliz, which has 3,400 units over more than eight acres.

But its owner likes to make sure its heart is as big as its square footage. That’s why he regularly houses items for nonpaying customers--many of them based in Glendale, where he has become a small celebrity for his unique form of philanthropy.

His only criterion: These customers must be nonprofit groups or public agencies dedicated to helping others.

Haque has been in the storage business for eight years, but the 1994 Northridge earthquake made it his philanthropy as well.

To assist quake victims in her hard-hit Hollywood area district, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg at that time contacted Haque and asked him to donate some units so displaced victims could house their belongings.

Haque, whose Los Feliz business is in Goldberg’s council district, agreed instantly. He donated 350 spaces to quake victims for up to three months. From that time on, an increasing number of nonprofit organizations and public agencies have approached him for the same kind of donation. He has never turned anyone down.

“Now everybody wants one,” he said with a chuckle. “If it continues, I will run out of space!”

Many of the organizations Haque helps are based in Glendale, where he is active in the community, sitting on the boards of directors of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, Glendale Kiwanis Club and Glendale Adventist Medical Center Foundation.

His donation of space is not limited to Glendale groups.

“When there’s a disaster, it’s critical,” said Ron Farina, executive director of the American Red Cross’ Glendale/Crescenta Valley Chapter, referring to the kind of help Haque provides. The Red Cross is always ready to step in to provide food, clothing and shelter to victims of disaster, Farina said. But when a gas explosion at a Glendale apartment complex in May left about a dozen families temporarily homeless, he said the organization was also able to assist victims in a larger capacity thanks to Haque.

“Families needed not only to move but to store their belongings for at least a month,” Farina recalled.

Haque “was very generous and opened up his facility. For the victims, this was a very important part of our relief effort. It was the missing piece. It bought them some time.”

Farina added that Stor It All houses supplies for his chapter of the Red Cross year round for free. It does the same for 60 other organizations, including the Glendale Assn. for the Retarded, the Glendale and Los Angeles police departments and the Salvation Army in Glendale.

A Pakistan native who came to the United States in 1960 to pursue a better education, Haque said he believes his immigrant roots have lent him a sense of humility.

“When I came to this country, I did not have anything,” said the San Marino resident who has been honored by nonprofit organizations and politicians. Speaking almost no English, he took his first job in a sweatshop for $1 an hour, he said. Always juggling work at night and school during the day or vice-versa, he eventually earned his business degree from USC.

After working for Xerox for 10 years, he and his wife, Linda, started a property management company and, later, Stor It All.

“I have done very well,” said Haque, father of two adult daughters. “I feel like I should contribute something back to the community. So I’m giving 64 units free--big deal. I’d like to do more.”

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