Natural and Organic Products
for the
Mind, Body, Spirit and Your Home
Charity:
We believe that when we buy products for our families it is important to keep the health of the planet and all its people in mind. Giving through charity is an important way to help ensure this happens. We feel very blessed to be alive on a planet with such diverse people and wildlife - We'd like to keep it that way! We have all experienced struggle and despair and so we hope to reach out to others in the spirit of compassion. Our goal is to live with this compassion for the whole planet - its wildlife and all its people.
When you make an online purchase from our store, a portion (a full 7%!) of our proceeds goes towards the charities listed below.
In the future, as we gain more support and our store expands, we hope to expand our charities list. If you have a suggestion for one, please email us. At the bottom of this page you will see a list of links to websites that we also recommend and you can donate to directly. If for any reason, you do not wish a portion of your purchase to go towards these charities, you may simply make this request with your order.
Women for
Women International
Stronger Women Build Stronger Nations
Why?
War is not a computer-generated missile that strikes a
digital map on television. The images we see on TV do not accurately portray how
individual lives are affected by conflict.
Across the globe, undeclared wars and internal armed
conflicts have reached an unprecedented number. There have been more than 250
major wars since the end of World War II, resulting in over 23 million
casualties. Modern warfare is no longer confined to battlefields.
Around the world, non-combatants are finding themselves in the direct
line of fire, suffering greatly and becoming the anonymous and undercounted
casualties of violent conflicts. In today’s wars, 90 percent of casualties are
civilians, 75 percent of whom are women and children; a century ago, 90 percent
of war casualties were male soldiers.
As never before, women are disproportionately affected by
war and civil strife. Women are targeted for ethnic cleansing and subjected to
rape as a tool of war. They lose male family members who leave to fight and are
killed. Many are displaced from their own homes. When widowed by war, they are
thrust into the role of sole provider, often without marketable skills or a
viable means to earn an income and often in communities that do not value their
place in society.
Women for Women International’s work begins when the basic human needs of women are still very great, but the seeds of stability can begin to be sown. Our work bridges a critical gap between humanitarian aid and long-term development and reconstruction. We are the only organization solely dedicated to women’s development needs that operates in the heart of conflict-afflicted areas in countries such as Congo and Iraq. Yet, our long-term commitment in post-conflict countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda is critical when emergency relief agencies, the media and public attention have long since moved to focus on the next crisis.
It is essential that we pay attention to what women go
through as they live through war and as nations are rebuilt. We often only see
women in grassroots communities as the victims of wars, but they are the true
active participants in rebuilding their nations. The women we serve are the
unseen warriors for humanity. Their weapons are not guns but guts. If we can
stabilize the women we can stabilize their communities and their countries.
Women for Women International has learned through 13 years serving socially excluded women in conflict and post-conflict countries that engaging women is the most effective avenue toward creating lasting change and stability within a society. Stronger women build stronger nations.
What
Women to Women International Does:
From
Victim to Survivor...to Active Citizen
Women for Women International mobilizes women to change
their lives by bringing a holistic approach to addressing the unique needs of
women in conflict and post-conflict environments.
We begin by working with women who may have lost everything
in conflict and often have nowhere else to turn. Participation in our one-year
program launches women on a journey from victim to survivor to active citizen.
We identify services to support graduates of the program as they continue to
strive for greater social, economic and political participation in their
communities.
As each woman engages in a multi-phase process of recovery and rehabilitation, she opens a window of opportunity presented by the end of conflict to help improve the rights, freedoms and status of women in her country. As women who go through our
program assume leadership positions in their villages, actively participate in the reconstruction of their communities, build civil society, start businesses, train other women and serve as role models, they become active citizens who can help to establish lasting peace and stability.
Women begin in our Sponsorship Program where direct
financial aid from a sponsor helps them deal with the immediate effects of war
and conflict such as lack of food, water, medicine and other necessities.
Exchanging letters with sponsors provides women with an emotional lifeline and a
chance to tell their stories —maybe for the first time. As their situations
begin to stabilize, women in our program begin building a foundation for their
lives as survivors.
While continuing to receive sponsorship support, women
embark on the next leg of the journey and participate in the Renewing Women’s
Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program that provides them with rights awareness,
leadership education and vocational and technical skills training. Women build
upon existing skills and learn new ones in order to regain their strength,
stability and stature on the path to becoming active citizens.
Women for Women International believes that establishing a
means to earn a sustainable living is critical to being fully active in the life
of a family, community and country. To help women transform their new skills
into financial independence and sustainability, we offer job skills trainings to
strengthen women’s existing skills and to introduce new skills in traditional
and non-traditional fields so women can access future employment opportunities.
Red Feather
Development Group
About
Red Feather:
Red Feather educates and empowers American Indian nations to create sustainable solutions to the severe housing crisis within reservation communities. While focusing public attention on the intergenerational poverty and acute community development problems that plague American Indian reservations, Red Feather teaches affordable, replicable and sustainable approaches to home construction. Red Feather organizes volunteers, and, alongside tribal members, builds desperately needed homes.
Why
American Indians?
Of the 2.5 million tribal members living on American Indian reservations, more
than 300,000 are homeless or living in life-threatening conditions. Thousands
more live in substandard, over-crowded conditions. Many homes lack running
water, electricity and sanitation. Elders are often isolated with few options
for help should they need it.
Other great charities and organizations we recommend:
(Even if you cannot afford to donate directly, you can often write letters and show other methods of support for people and and planet. Click below to find out how!)
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