Here is a beautiful way to help the people of Japan devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami last week. Purchase this beautiful Tokyo print from JHill Design's Places I've Never Been series and 100% of the profits will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.
A beautiful reminder that you cared enough to help and a lovely gift that will keep on giving.
(Full disclosure: I work for this company but do not profit from the sale of these bracelets. My commission goes directly back to the foundation.)
Have you noticed that back to school time also means birthday time? My kids have been back to school for less than a month and the birthday party invitations have been rolling in like crazy. After several moments of panic over gifts for all of these parties (some of these invites come last minute, have you noticed?), I decided to take control of the situation and plan ahead.
My daughter has this adorable foundation bracelet from Stella & Dot and wanted to give one to a good friend who had admired hers. So I decided to order a bunch and save them for all of the birthday parties that are sure to arise throughout the year. The best part? 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of the foundation bracelets go to support three charities that focus on creating positive change for women and girls. (buildOn, Girls, Inc. and ACCION USA) In only the first month of sales, enough money was raised to build an entire school through the buildOn organization! I think that's pretty amazing and something that I definitely want to be a part of.
The foundation bracelets are available for women, as well. (I have the pink with gold charms and it such a beautiful, warm combination of colors.) I may or may not have stocked up on a few of these as well, planning ahead for some holiday gift-giving. I wouldn't want to ruin any surprises, of course...
Along with the bracelet, which comes beautifully packaged in an adorable tin for girls or a chic and stylish box for women, I include a little note letting the recipient know that their beautiful bracelet represents a donation to the foundation that supports these three incredible charities. Like I said - I love a gift that gives twice!
Oh, and if you do get a last minute invitation - not to worry. Shipping is lightening quick; you will receive your order via priority mail in 3-4 business days. Love that!
About a week ago, I received a request from a dear friend in Canada. She wondered if I could help out with a fundraiser her daughter Cadence was hoping to do in her school. Cadence is a Valentine's baby who has a history of using her charmed birthday for good, so when she asked me to create a logo for her latest charitable venture, I jumped into action. Cadence's beautiful idea was to sell hearts in her middle school, rather than the usual candy grams and carnations, for Valentine's Day and donate all of the money to the Red Cross to assist the people in Haiti. A genius idea, don't you think? She called it Hearts for Haiti and with that, the heart above was born.
As I played around with the design of the heart, my 11 yr. old son (you know him as Pumpkin) was looking over my shoulder. You should know that he suggested using the "4" rather than "for" in the design to make it cooler (these are middle schoolers you know!). When I told him what it was all about, he thought he may like to do the same in his school. So as Cadence reviewed the proofs and approved the final design, Pumpkin got busy writing a proposal of his own to submit to his principal. Here is that proposal:
Hearts 4 Haiti Charity Fundraiser Proposal
Dear Mrs. XXXXXX:
I would like to propose a fundraiser for the people of Haiti who have been affected by the Earthquake. My mother was asked by a middle school girl in Canada to design a logo for a Hearts 4 Haiti fundraiser that she wanted to do in her school. When I heard about it, I thought it was a good idea and decided to see if we could do it at XXXXXXX School too.
The idea behind Hearts 4 Haiti is very simple. In the weeks before Valentine’s day, students, teachers and anyone can buy a Heart for $1 (see attached). They can sign their own name on it or buy it for someone else and we could hang the hearts in the school. I think a good place for the hearts to be hung could be the cafeteria, but they can really be hung anywhere. Then we can donate the money to the Red Cross to help the Haitian people with food, clothes, clean water, medical supplies, toys for the children, etc.
The benefits of having this fundraiser at XXXXXXX would be:
1. We would help the Haitians in their time of need.
2. It would bring awareness to the problems that the earthquake created in Haiti.
3. The school would look nice and be decorated for Valentine’s Day.
I would be happy to sell the hearts at lunchtime and find other students who would like to help. My mother also said she would help me organize and maybe a teacher would volunteer to help too.
Thank you for considering this idea.
XXXXXXXX XXXXX, Room XX
I am so pleased to report that Pumpkin's proposal was approved by his principal and Cadence's project is catching on like crazy with Hearts 4 Haiti being sold in not only her school, but many other schools (and other venues!) in her area.
If you would like to start a Hearts 4 Haiti fundraiser in your community, we will be happy to provide downloadable files to get started. Simply comment here with contact information or go to Hearts 4 Haiti's Facebook fan page and let us know you're interested!
Thank you Cadence for a wonderful idea and for inspiring my own son to take action on behalf of the people of Haiti. You are an amazing girl!
And if that's not inspiration enough, I've had this on replay all week long.
(Full disclosure: I work for this company but do not profit from the sale of these bracelets. My commission goes directly back to the foundation.)
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