Whole Foods Market began as a small natural grocery store in Austin, Texas with a mission to sell meat and poultry free of growth hormones and antibiotics, unprocessed grains and cereals, and a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables. Over time, Whole Foods Market expanded into other states and countries with its unique approach to offering whole foods while promoting environmental sustainability, local and international community service, and supporting employee happiness and excellence. Over the years, Whole Foods Market has grown into an international chain of natural food supermarkets operating over 340 stores in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Scotland.
Luciana is a microentreprenuer from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She used her Whole Planet loan to start a business selling fruits and vegetables. Photo credit: Whole Planet Foundation/Evan Lambert.
Whole Foods Market just so happens to be one of my favorite places to grocery shop as it offers many organic and “real” foods, not all the processed garbage that has become a huge part of the American diet. Through the work I do as a social good blogger and advocate, I discovered that behind Whole Foods Market’s widely successfully business is a foundation that is doing some pretty amazing things to give back to the communities in which they source their products.
UncommonGoods is an online specialty marketplace that endeavors to feature unique designs and handcrafted products created in harmony with the environment and without harm to animals or people. Founded in Brooklyn, New York in 1999, UncommonGoods strives to provide gifts that are unique and made by local and international artisans. Imagine strolling through a local market in Guatemala or France and that is what it feels like to browse online at UncommonGoods. What is even better is the fact that the products are offered at affordable prices and also give back.
I heard about UncommonGoods from a good friend of mine, fellow blogger Elizabeth Ataley of Documama who told me that I must check out their website as it is fantastic. Ironically, UncommonGoods contacted me while I was with Elizabeth in New York City, and asked if I would help spread the word about their social good program called “Better to Give“. Of course I agreed!
Back in the fall, I had written a piece about a fabulous organization that I’m honored to be a part of as an advocate and ONEMom Community Partner, ONE.
ONE is a non-partisian advocacy organization that is backed by over 3 million members who work with government leaders to support proven, cost-effective solutions that save lives and help build sustainable futures.
Part of ONE’s advocacy is strengthened by the creation of ONE Moms, a group of powerful women bloggers, writers and other prominent advocates to help spread the word of ONE’s mission. These women have dedicated their time, energy, enthusiasm and passion for helping moms around the world have happier, healthier lives.
During the ONE Moms/Mums trip to Ethiopia last fall, the women visited fashionABLE, a nonprofit that works to empower women and create sustainable business in Ethiopia. Most of these women were rescued from prostitution and have been helped by fashionABLE to live a productive, healthy life for themselves and their children.
FashionABLE is a beautiful success story.
A few months ago, a competition was held by ONE | fashionABLE | ALTchallenge / contest where the Alt community was challenged to design a scarf to be voted on by conference attendees and then handmade in Ethiopia for an exclusive ONE | fashionABLE Mother’s Day Scarf. Fast forward to early April and the winning Mother’s Day scarf is now hitting the markets in the US. Each handmade scarf takes three days to make and is named The Genet after one of the amazing women who helped produce it.
Here is how the new scarf all began….
On Thursday, April 4th, there is a Pre-Sale of the scarfoffering two full days of free shipping (in the US only). After April 5th the pre-sale will continue with regular shipping. All scarves ordered will be shipped on April 17th in time for Mother’s Day. The scarf is absolutely stunning and has quite a special meaning as well.
Why its important? Genet and her child have been lifted out of poverty and into a sustainable life.
Have you ever thought about the clothes you wear and what kind of statement you are making? Did you know that there are some clothing companies out there in the world that are trying to make a positive difference in people’s lives and change the way people think. Barnabas Clothing is one such company.
Sample of Barnabas casual sportswear. Photo credit: Barnabas Clothing Company.
“We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” – Paulo Coelho
Photo credit: Maternity Worldwide
The figures are startling. Every year around the world 287,000 women die in what should be the most joyous time of life: Having a baby. That means one woman dies every 2 minutes or 800 a day, during pregnancy and childbirth.
As a mother of two children who suffered two high-risk births, I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to be pregnant in a developing nation. It is not surprising that the majority of women (over 56% of the total) who die are in sub-Saharan Africa, a region of the world that is engulfed in extreme poverty. When you compare the mortality rates to women in the Western world, 99% of all deaths take place in the developing world.
In Ethiopia alone, one of the poorest countries in the world, 90% of women give birth at home and for every 100,000 women who give birth in the country, 676 women die from delivery and childbirth complications. Further accentuating the problem in the fact that Ethiopian women, who have little or no access to family planning or contraception, have on average 4.8 babies who survive. These numbers alone put women at high risk of dying and not living to see their babies grow up or raise the others. Continue reading →
This post is in response to the work I’m doing on behalf of Global Team of 200. 1000 Shillings has provided us with the content and images below that are used in this post. For more information on 1000 Shillings, please click here.
1000 Shillings is a Uganda-based organization that helps impoverished mothers earn a living through their small business by selling limited-edition paper bead jewelry. The unique name for the company is quite symbolic as it is the amount of money that they average woman in the Namatala slum lives on per day – approximately 1,000 Ugandan Shillings ($.40).
Today is the first ever Giving Tuesday, a day across the country dedicated to giving back. Launched by the creative minds of the UN Foundation, Unilever Corp. and United Way, what started simply as a great idea turned into a mass event involving over 4,000 organizations in all 50 states.
It is the hope that Giving Tuesday starts a new national day of giving via the collective power of charities, families, businesses and individuals who will transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Judging by the media, it is looking like the first Giving Tuesday will be a great success and only continue to grow in years to come.
With the holiday season approaching, most of us are thinking and maybe even dreading shopping for the perfect gift for our family and friends. In a world with so many different things to buy, why not buy something that also gives back in return?
Together with some fellow bloggers from the Global Team of 200, we have composed a list of presents with a purpose. Every item below gives back to either the community who makes the product or to an important cause. There are gifts for men, women and children and lots of fantastic “gifts that give” to choose from.
Here are some of our favorites for this holiday season:
“I’ve always loved headbands. It’s a simple way to add a little style to any outfit. But after my internship at the Make-A-Wish Foundation, I realized that headbands could be more than just a way to keep your hair back. For girls and women everywhere, their hair is a part of their feminine identity. Wigs can be uncomfortable and unappealing, especially to younger girls.
Many girls fighting childhood cancer lose their hair during their rigorous chemotherapy treatments. Headbands are the perfect way for these girls to keep their feminine identity and have a constant reminder that they’re not alone.
However, throughout this journey, I’ve learned that these headbands are just as important to girls with hair than girls with hair loss as well. I’ve distributed headbands to girls who are about to start their treatment and haven’t experienced hair loss yet and I’ve also given headbands to girls who are starting to get their hair back after treatment.
With or without hair, Headbands of Hope provides a movement to spread hope in all girls and fight in the battle against childhood cancer, one headband at a time. ” – Jessica Ekstrom
For every headband purchased, one is given to a girl with cancer and $1 is donated to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fund life-saving childhood cancer research.
Headbands range from about $15-18 and the website also offers bracelets and t-shirts.
The headbands come in all sorts of beautiful colors, ornamentation and design. This one is called Carnation and sells for $15.85
“Your purchase of a fashionABLE scarf creates sustainable business for women in Africa. Our commitment as a non-profit is to the development of people — fashionABLE works with women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty. So, when you purchase a scarf you are providing jobs, and then we send the net profits back to holistically rehabilitate more women. This is the beauty of non-profit….” Scarves provide jobs, profits provide restoration
Each scarf is hand-made by an Ethiopian woman who has been given a chance at a new, sustainable, dignified life. Her name, photo and story will be included on a tag attached to the scarf, bringing more meaning to the product.
Scarves can be customized and cost between $32-44.
Made By Survivors is an international nonprofit organization which employs and educates survivors of slavery and other human rights abuses, including many women and children living in extreme poverty. Products include jewelry, bags, gifts and cards and prices range. 100% of profits go back to the survivors who made them.
Here is a sample of one of their new bags: Sweet Life Carryall for $48.00
What I like so much is the fact that 100% of profits goes back to the survivors who made them by programs to support rescue, aftercare, education and employment.
To date, FEED has been able to raise enough money through the sale of products to provide over 60 million school meals to children around the world through WFP. FEED has also partnered with the US Fund for UNICEF, raising much-needed funds for their Vitamin A and micronutrient supplements program and providing over 46,000 children with essential nutrients.
FEED offers all sorts of backpacks depending on how your want to help.
I really found the Feed Health Backpack to be amazing as it travels the distance to create change. Check out what is included in each backpack.
“With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One”. To date, TOMS has donated over 2 million pairs of shoes to children over the world. Pretty impressive!
TOMS shoes comes in all shapes, colors and sizes ranging from the glittery pink pair my daughter has to more casual looking shoes for women and men. Prices start around $36.00.
TOMS also offers eyeglasses:
Another site that offers great gifts that give back is iGive.com.
iGive.com makes it easy to support any cause you choose.The iGive.com Button tells stores that you want a percentage of every purchase you make donated to the cause of your choice! It’s free and it’s that easy!
Change your world one online purchase at a time.
What are your plans for #GivingTuesday this year? What are some of the gifts you like to give?
For more information on #GivingTuesday, click here.
