This video offers an amazing example of how every person really can make a difference. There is an old saying about the power of giving a person a fish, versus teaching them to fish. Here, this 17 year old is truly teaching immigrant women how to fish for themselves and to make a living through sewing. Learn more about this incredible program called All Sorts Clothing and see how you can get involved.
Sometimes you just want to purchase something because it’s pretty, or inexpensive, or goes with an outfit you already own. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, however, if we all considered how environmentally conscious and how charitable our purchases were?
One great example is a jewelry company called Awe Inspired. Founded in 2018 by cancer survivor Jill Johnson and her son Max, the company is one worth knowing. Their jewelry is made with the finest materials and uses only fair labor and sustainability.
One of the most impressive parts of Awe Inspired is their charitable efforts. They have, to date, given over $700,000 to organizations, donating 20% of all proceeds to their charitable partners. Each of their partners focuses on directly impacting the lives of women who have overcome adversity. This includes CancerCare, The American Nurses Foundation’s Coronavirus Fund for Nurses, Emily’s List, the NAACP, NAMI and RAINN.
It’s companies like Awe Inspired that allow people to make meaningful purchases that both benefit the purchaser and so many others in need. You can make a difference just by checking on the companies that you purchase from and seeing if they give generously from their profits. Everyone wins when they do.
The holiday season can be a joyous, wonderful time but it can also be a very hard one for many people. This year, some big names in the music industry are using their talent to bring cheer to others, and to raise money for important charities.
Elton John and Ed Sheeran have recently teamed up with a charity single called “Merry Christmas” that was just released by Asylum/Atlantic. Jason Koenig has directed the accompanying video.
The song was written by many superstars and was produced by Steve Mac.
All publishing royalties and sales will be donated equally to the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
This is an incredible story about making lemonade when life gives you lemons. In a freak accident more than a year ago, Laila Susini nearly lost her life. She was swinging on a porch swing, when the eyebolt that holds the swing together detached from the ceiling and went through her skull.
Doctors and nurses at Cedars Sinai Medical Center saved her life during a five hour operation. Today, Laila’s left arm is paralyzed, but she is forging ahead with a full life and a new fashion line. Her fashionable and comfortable clothing, called LATE Clothing LA, is intended to help other children who live with medical devices and need slightly reimagined clothing.
The clothing line is worth checking out, and the story of inspiration is worth reading.
Here is a really nice story of giving. We all know that Vermont is a very cold place in the winter, and this is obviously an issue for people who are homeless. In Northfield, Vermont there is a sock company doing something about it. Darn Tough Vermont has been partnering with the Vermont Foodbank for many years. During COVID-19, they started making a special pair of socks with the sales from those socks going directly to the food bank. So far, they’ve been able to provide 925,000 meals to hungry people in Vermont with those sales.
Read more about their foodbank giving program and the amazing things they’ve done to help people.
A fascinating study looking at the differences in giving for affluent Americans over 40, versus Millennial and Gen Z donors has found some really interesting changes. The study, the 2021 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy: charitable Giving by Affluent Households, looked at more than 1600 American homes.
The major shift they noticed is one away from giving to organizations and towards issues. Younger people are looking at issues of climate change, race relations and other issues and are putting their money into fixing these crises, rather than to giving to organizations, as older people to to do. Researchers also discovered that givers are using Venmo and GoFundMe for their charitable gifts and engaging in much more direct giving. They also found that women, in particular, give to crowdfunding campaigns more than men.
They also found that approximately 90% of affluent Americans gave to charity in 2020. Volunteering was definitely down in 2020 because of the pandemic; however, interestingly, Americans who did give their time gave twice as much money to charitable causes than did those who did not volunteer.
The study is certainly worth seeing and understanding in more depth.
The Uncommon Giving Community is one you’ll want to know about in the charity space. This is a Scottsdale, Arizona based company that has an online platform for people to give charity. So far, they have over one million charities available to give to. Their Chief Generosity Officer, Nick Vujicic, is one to know about as well. Born without arms or legs, he was bullied as a child and tried to take his life at the young age of 10. Having found his calling, he now works to enhance the giving experience that people have.
Uncommon Giving offers both individual and workplace opportunities for giving and for having all of your giving under one umbrella. It’s certainly an organization worth knowing about and seeing if it can help you to make a personal or professional impact in the charitable world.
Here is a feel good story and a worthy cause. Sam Green and his dog, Taylor Ham, are walking across America. Taylor Ham isn’t just any companion – he’s an 8.5 year old pit bull/collie mix who is keeping Green company on the quest to walk all the way to Los Angeles.
The goal is to raise $25,000 when he pulls into LA around mid-October. So far on his GoFundMe site he has about $8000. He’s raising the money for Just Believe Inc. This is a charity based on New Jersey that operates local shelters for the homeless. Green’s goal is to raise money to build Jeff’s Camp, a shelter for homeless veterans. Learn more about Sam’s goals here.
Here’s an unusual fundraiser that was held recently for a great cause. Kevin Kurland is the co-owner of Smoky Quartz Distillery in Seabrook, New Hampshire. He actually decided to become a distiller while he was serving in Iraq in 2008. While waiting out an attack in Baghdad, he was reading a Wall Street Journal article and decided that this would be his path forward.
Fast forward to 2014 when he opened the distillery after retiring with 26 years of distinguished military service behind him. He enjoys giving back to veterans and created a fundraiser through his distillery to do so. He explained that his Vouchers for Veterans program allowed former military members to purchase food.
The private event was the first of its kind for Kurland and included only 50 tickets. Ticketholders were privy to three premium cigars, wood-fired pizza and spirt samples from 6-9pm one recent evening. They also enjoyed raffles, prizes and a live podcast by Cigar Hacks at the time of the event. It certainly sounded like a unique and meaningful event and a great way to enjoy a night out, while giving back to those who serve.
If you’re in New Hampshire or driving through, a stop at Smoky Quartz Distillery sounds like a great idea.
Here is a fun pick-me-up story. Joe McHugh of Westfield, Maine walked from Maine to Boston for charity. What makes the story even more inspiring is that he did so recently with three friends – and their fathers did the same walk in 1973. The walk in 1973 raised money for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber center for cancer research. The current walk was intended to raise money for the same causes, and had already raised more than $20,000 when they started walking.
In 1973, it all started because David McHugh, now 85, had a hernia operation and was told to walk more. He decided that if he was going to start walking, he would do so for charity. Together with three friends, they walked from Maine to Fenway Park in four days while raising $18,000 for Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund.
Certainly, their children are hoping to double what the dads raised all those years ago.