We Are All In This Together

We recently attended a panel discussion on women and gender studies at Wayne State University in Detroit. An interesting point was made by one of the panelists about international aid; specifically, why should we help people in other countries when there are so many people here in need? First of all, there are lots of opinions on the matter, but we believe that there is absolutely a time and a place for pure and true aid. People in the lowest of lows need help to stand on their own two feet before you can “teach them how to fish”. Once they are on their feet, there is also a place for business building and creating sustainable, longer-term opportunities so people do not become dependent on handouts and can learn to support themselves. That’s why we have both our retail business “Buy The Change” and our non-profit “Buy The Change Foundation”.


Clearly, our response to the “why help people in other countries when people here need help?” question is “let’s help them all”. The answer of helping “our own” before we help “them” is a mindset we hope will soon get the paradigm shift it so deserves. The “us” and “them” piece is very divisive, and the truth is that we are all in this together. There is balance in saying “nourish those who need it” with no stipulations. Not one’s needs above another.

 

“Let’s help them all” – too big of a job? Nah. Because…we are all in this together, and there are roughly 7 billion of us. Now, just imagine each person doing just one thing for the greater good...7 billion acts of random (or not-so-random) kindness. Wow.

 

We'll end with this wonderful African Proverb: "If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

 

Thanks for being "in this" together with us!

 

Shanan and Kari

 

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!

 

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A Rising Success!

The Buy The Change/Sapphire Soul screening event for the movie Girl Rising was Thursday night at the Canton Cinema. One of the attendees was our beautiful product model Anna King. Anna stepped up for us again and made sure everyone received a raffle ticket when they came through the door. Our other swag assistant for the evening was Waverlee Baron-Galbavi who did a fantastic job of handing out brochures and gift certificates to all the guests.

It was a humbling experience to watch the faces of friends and loyal customers come through the door. Tickets were purchased through the Girl Rising website so we didn’t have a list of who was attending. We had heard from many friends and were expecting them, but there were wonderful surprises as well. There is something beyond words about asking for support for something we care deeply about and seeing it happen.

A total of 178 tickets were purchased which means $1780 went directly to the Girl Rising organization. We are glad to have participated in raising this amount of money in one evening but even more important is the hope that every person who saw the movie left the theater inspired to be part of the solution, whatever that already is, or turns out to be.

Girl Rising tells the stories of nine girls in developing countries who are committed to education and the opportunities it can bring. There is Wadley in Haiti, who at age 8 refuses to stop going to school, even though her mother does not have the money to pay the school fees after the earthquake there. There is Amina in Afghanistan, who was married at age 11 to an older cousin and gave birth to her first child at age 12, yet refuses to give up the idea that her life can be different and better. There is Suma in Nepal, who was sold by her family at age 6 into a system called Kamlari which turns girls into domestic slaves. Suma was rescued and is now receiving an education.

Every one of the nine stories remind us to be grateful for the ease in our daily lives.

We had a display table at the event to let people see a sample of Buy The Change products, and, of course, buy things if they cared to. We would be bad business people to pass up such a great pool of possible customers. We spoke with many people and sold many items but there were a few that stood out. There was a girl of about 9 or 10 who told me she had been born in Guatemala. She very much wanted to buy something made by a woman in Guatemala. There was a teenage girl who fell in love with our coffee bag messenger bag and came back to look at it many times before finally buying it and wearing it home.  Many women expressed interested in hosting trunk shows.

All in all it was a stellar evening for us, for Buy The Change and for Girl Rising.  We only had a moment to speak with Allison after the event but I hope it was as good for her and Sapphire Soul.

Here is a pic of Kari, at the Buy The Change table. Thanks to Val Kiley for always being the one to get photo documentation of anything and everything happening in her presence. Thanks too, to Kim Lazarz for all the work she does for the Buy The Change Foundation and Sharon Rondeau, Megan Shipley and Denise Crissman for helping us set up and man the table so we could mingle a bit with our guests.

Most of all, Thank you to you!

Kari and Shanan

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!
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100 Wonderful People Said Yes!

This month Buy The Change is two years old. We can’t really decide if we want to call it our birthday or our anniversary but either way it has been two amazing years. We have made wonderful new friends, been overwhelmingly supported by our old friends, donated to local non-profit organizations, started our own non-profit organization, become a registered BCorp and most importantly, empowered women around the world by bringing their handmade goods to the American market.

Shanan and I had been talking for a few weeks about how to best celebrate our successful two years. We hadn’t hit on the thing that felt just right until I saw a post from a company called Sapphire Soul based in Ypsilanti, Michigan (check them out because they are very cool). Allison, the owner of Sapphire Soul, posted that she was sponsoring a screening of the movie Girl Rising on October 17^th in celebration of the International Day of the Girl on October 11^th. I immediately emailed to ask if we could co-sponsor and she said YES!  Our birthday celebration had been found!

The thing about sponsoring a screening of this film is that they give you 10 days to sell 100 tickets at $10 each or it’s a no go. That is a big order for one small company so a Buy The Change/Sapphire Soul collaboration seemed like the perfect solution.  We asked and 100 Wonderful People Said Yes!  It was more than 100 actually, in only 7 days. Since proceeds from ticket sales go directly to the Girl Rising organization, this is a big deal.

There are still tickets available for anyone in southeast Michigan who likes to spend time with very cool people, support change making companies and organizations, get free stuff (we are going to give you a gift for our birthday) and learn about the power of education for girls around the world.  Sounds like a great way to spend a Thursday evening to me.  Hope to see you there.

In Gratitude,
Kari

P.S. Join us on our journey! We want every woman to have a happy, peaceful and empowered life. You can join us and support our cause in many ways: host a trunk show, spread the word about our mission and the importance of buying fairly-traded products, become an affiliate, follow Buy The Change on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to our blog, and shop online!
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