Not only today is my birthday but its "Giving Tuesday". No no don't get me wrong. I am not really asking you all to give me a gift (because that would be way too many gifts and that's crazy lol). But It’s that time of the year!! #GivingTuesday is a global day of charitable giving to kick off this holiday season. And I am so excited it fell on my birthday this year an opportunity to highlight some of my favorite things . During the holiday season we give thanks, we give and recieve gifts, and we certainly give our time and a few extra hugs & kisses to our loved ones. Many of us are making lists and yes checking them twice. So in this season full of love and giving, I encourage you all lovely people to take the extra step to find a gift that will do more than just one person good. After all, it is in giving that we receive the most. Whether one person or one hundred will benefit, choosing to buy a gift that gives back will touch someone’s heart along the way.
Checking out the companies/org below will not only put a smile on your gift recipient’s face but will make a difference in someone else’s life, highlighting the true joy and beauty of this holiday season. I believe you will find something for everyone on your list.
Ways to simplify your gift giving and make it more of an enjoyable task:
Stay organized: make a list: it will help you keep track of who you buy for and helps you stay on budget.
Ask your recipients what they want. If you are my kids that's a dangerous question, so ask with caution lol.
Take notes (when your friend, mother, grandfather, kids teacher mentions their interest in something, or you know of an event that’s memorable for them take note).
Think of their hobbies or things they like to do. Are they into crafts, reading, cooking, collecting certain items, sports, books..etc
Always write a card or a note and put some thought into the gift wrapping. I set up a wrapping station on our ping pong table, yes i am aware its not convenient for the ping pong champs at my house but oh well. Don’t be my brother in law who shows up to all the holidays or birthdays with garbage bag wrapped gifts (dead serious) but it makes us laugh so hard, its the family inside joke and we love him.
Homemade gifts are great. The recipient will appreciate the time and thought you put into making the gift for them.
Think quality over quantity
Give for a good cause. Send money to their favorite charity in their honor. Or volunteer with them at their fav organization or fundraiser. Or buy from companies like the ones listed below.
Give the gift of time. Your time is a solid expression of your love. Its the gift that means more than any other. life gets too busy at times making the gift of time all that more precious.
Give an adventure, or an experience. It will be something they will always remember. The gift will become an incredible memory you share.
Below is a list of some of the companies and organizations I found that do great things for great causes. The list is not limited or exclusive to the ones listed. I am thankful that there is plenty more.
*Almond and Fig is not affiliated or not in a paid partnership with any of the companies listed below. Compiling this list for you is what I wanted to do for my birthday this year.
*if you are an organization or a social enterprise or know of one that would like to be featured on our Holiday Gift giving list please contact us directly.
This company is a local Chicago company not only they pop the best popcorn and the cutest packaging ever but they make us so proud. Use code DOITFORTHEGRAM for free value shipping.
TOGETHER
Since the beginning, we’ve made popcorn by hand every single day. And it’s seriously awesome popcorn. We found that we could get it to people all kinds of ways, like big box stores and shopping channels. We even created a way for kids who needed help paying for sports to sell it and keep half the profits. As our fundraising efforts grew, doing business with the big guys became meaningless to us. So, we stopped. Kids were sending us letters to tell us how much it meant to them to play on a team and how the popcorn helped them pay for registration or buy new uniforms or get to the championships. They told us that everyone who supported them loved the popcorn. These stories changed the way we looked at what we do, and we wanted to do it for more kids. So far, we’ve raised more than 50 million dollars to help kids do what they love. As we got more involved, we started learning about the positive impact that sports have on kids, the friendships they make, and the confidence it gives them. But we discovered a problem; kids with special needs don’t have as many opportunities to participate in sports. We started the Double Good Kids Foundation to provide the equipment, education, and opportunity for kids with special needs to get all the benefits that sports and extracurricular activities provide. And that’s where you come in: 50% of every dollar you spend goes to help kids with special needs. We’re excited to be creating new ways to do good, together.
https://aspirecoffeeworks.com/
Another Chicago favorite. Use coupon code happyholidays for $5 off your purchase
Aspire CoffeeWorks is a dynamic social enterprise between Aspire, Metropolis Coffee Company, and Canteen Vending. Founded in 2009, the partnership combines the work of nonprofit Aspire, a leader in providing bold and pioneering services to kids and adults with disabilities, with the craftsmanship of Metropolis Coffee Company, one of the nation’s top artisan, award-winning coffee roasters.
This creative and mutually beneficial partnership is one in which adults with disabilities on the Aspire CoffeeWorks team, work side by side with employees on the Metropolis Coffee Company team. That’s right, at Aspire CoffeeWorks, even the staff is perfectly blended!
It’s a groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind partnership and perfect example of how adults with disabilities can be productive and successful members of the work force. And just as exciting is the fact that 100% of Aspire CoffeeWorks’ net proceeds go back to Aspire’s services and programs.
Buy our fabulously crafted coffees and you’ll join our effort to demonstrate how a diversified work force is both mutually and culturally beneficial, while also supporting life-changing services and programs for kids and adults with disabilities. Packed with a purpose.
Use Code ALMONDANDFIG for 20% off today only
Ground Up is a not-just-for-profit business that provides job training to women overcoming adversity in the Portland area. Through the sale of healthy and delicious nut butters, we empower women with the confidence and skills they need to get back on their feet.
Not only the products are incredible but this organization does something that is so dear to my heart. Use code THANKYOU10 for 10% off your purchase.
Two Women, One Refugee Camp.
In 2014, Noora Sharrab and Jacqueline Sofia began working with a motivated group of women in Jordan’s Jerash “Gaza” Refugee Camp to build the foundation for a social enterprise that would educate, employ and empower the community’s women and girls. Today, Sitti maintains its commitment to providing fair wage employment to its all-female staff, as well as providing financial and in-kind support to several beneficiary programs that contribute towards the enterprise’s social mission. The Sitti product line, which began with a signature square bar of handmade, cold-pressed olive oil soap, has since grown to a line of 10+ popular skincare and home good items; including curated products through partnerships with ethical brand names. Sitti has evolved into a multi-national brand that can be found in the shops of retailers and distributors across the Middle East and North America.
For the décor lover in your life. Gorgeous artisan gifts from Egypt. Use ALMONDANDFIG for a 15% discount
Baladi Home is a home decor brand that creates an international marketplace for ethically made Egyptian artisan products. Each purchase empowers artisans and preserves culture, providing a sustainable lifeline to keep their time-honored craftsmanship alive.
We believe in the value of handmade, social responsibility, and fair trade. We believe in the power of business to make social change.
Our artisan partners can trust that they are paid first and paid fairly for their craftsmanship, so they never have to rely on charity. They never face the risks of exporting, currency devaluation and selling. After we discuss the desired product designs, the artisan partners name their price and get paid 50% of the agreed total, so they can easily buy any necessary materials. They are paid the remaining 50% when they finish their order. We then ship the inventory to our office in Michigan. We only work with artisans in Egypt so we can assure our artisans that this will be a long term partnership. We won't disappear when the trend is over. By working with a large group of female artisans, we promote gender equality, providing women in villages with opportunities to gain some independence, and therefore strengthen their families and communities.
www.paliroots.com
Use code Mai10 for a 10% discount
The PaliRoots movement has made a huge impact by helping thousands of Palestinian children. We strive to do more projects for Palestine such as building clean water wells, support research for diseases, build parks, fund schools and much more. This holiday season we are doing a Good Launch Campaign to raise money for the winter bundles project for kids in Gaza.
https://www.karamfoundation.org/scentsofsyria/
Use code happycm20 for a 20% off your total purchase
Karam Foundation is a non-profit organization on a mission to build a better future for Syria. We develop Innovative Education programs for Syrian refugee youth, distribute
Smart Aid to Syrian families, and fund Sustainable Development projects initiated by Syrians for Syrians. Karam Foundation was founded in 2007 in Chicago — a small, non-profit organization determined to do big things. Karam means generosity in Arabic — our simple vision was to give what was needed to those who needed it anywhere around the world. Ten years ago, we started with a food drive on the south-side of Chicago. Today, our impact expands across Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, building a better future for thousands of Syrian families.
https://mailchi.mp/culinarycare/holidaycampaign
Deliver One Less Worry
Fund a Holiday Meal
Families and individuals fighting cancer have so much on their plate, but it's not always food. At Culinary Care, we're not okay with that, which is why we're doing everything we can to make mealtime one less thing they have to worry about. You can help. Every $300 you give will bring free meals to cancer patients, and their family, for an entire year.
Give a gift. Change a life.
Help children and families in need. Gifts vary from education, clean water, child protection, animals and agriculture, to economic empowerment..etc.
Honor loved ones with a free personalized card
When you shop their gift catalog and choose to donate a goat, cow, donkey, clean water, mosquito net or any of the other 60+ animals and items, you'll be giving a gift for a good cause.
A project I am personally involved in and dear to my heart. As a child who grew up in Palestine books and libraries were scarce when I was in school. The Seraj Library Project is a non-profit 501(c)3 providing initiative and support in developing children libraries in rural Palestinian villages. Its mission is to assist in the education of Palestinian villagers of all ages and faiths through the development of high quality and accessible library programs. The project is based on the belief that civic education is the best route to democracy, human rights and peace.
More than 3 million glasses have been distributed across the globe through Warby Parker’s Buy a Pair, Give a Pair program. Not only can you try a pair of glasses on before you buy them, but with each pair you buy, you can help a person in need get a pair of glasses. Now that’s some good you can truly see!
Love Heals
Thistle Farms is a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping women survivors recover and heal from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction. We do this by providing a safe place to live, a meaningful job, and a lifelong sisterhood of support.
Every product is handcrafted by women survivors and made with natural, high-quality ingredients. When you purchase products from Thistle Farms you directly support the women survivors who make them. So you can feel good about the products you buy, and women survivors get a second chance at life. Shop and learn more at thistlefarms.org @thistlefarms
use code CHEER30 for 30% off
At The Giving Keys, we want to inspire the world to pay it forward, so we’ve built it into how we do business. Through our social impact employment model, every product you purchase supports job creation for people transitioning out of homelessness.
This giving Tuesday lush is donating 200% of the purchase price of any charity pot product.
Support the environment and your skin with Lush’s popular Charity Pot lotion. Not only do 100% of the proceeds (minus taxes) go toward environmental nonprofits around the world, but some of the ingredients are made from Sustainable Lush Fund projects, supporting responsible farming around the world.
Who doesn’t love a pair of colorful socks? Conscious Step offers charitable gift collections like Men’s Hunger, Water, Books and Women’s Trees, Oceans, Malaria. Each pair of socks represents where the proceeds of the gift purchase goes, such as clean water efforts, lifesaving tools to end diseases, books for children in need, and more.
The company grows and harvests their cashews in Mozambique, employing adult orphans from the area. Sunshine Nut Co. also invests 90% of their proceeds into Mozambique orphanages and community organizations, so you know you’re giving a gift that pays it forward.
Started in 2009 by Lauren Bush, FEED is an organization that works with nonprofit organizations around the world to eradicate hunger. Each one of their beautiful, custom bags has a number with it that signifies the amount of school meals that its purchase will provide. Like this “Woman on a Mission” clutch, which provides 50 school meals for kids around the world.
Sarah’s Bag is a Lebanese fashion house and social enterprise that creates one-of-a-kind luxury hand crafted bags and accessories that empower both the women who make them and the women who wear them.
For the wine lovers in your life or for your holiday party
ONEHOPE was founded by eight friends with a lofty vision: to create exceptional products that inspire people to indulge while doing good. Our commitment to quality wine is as important as our commitment to the causes we support. To date we have made more than $3 million in donations, provided 46,000 people with global health care, 49,000 forever homes for shelter animals, 1.8 million meals for children, 163,000 life-saving vaccines and much more.
We are proud of the impact we've been able to make and grateful to our supporters who give us the opportunity to continue. If you have ever purchased ONEHOPE products, or even told our story, you're part of something bigger than a brand. You're part of a movement to make giving back part of what you do every day.
Each bottle of One Hope Foundation's wine is dedicated to a different cause.