Giving Back in New Ways

Tis the season for so many things. Being thankful. Reflecting. Choosing love. Counting blessings. Cherishing family and friends. Giving. And giving back.

As my business has grown by leaps and bounds these past few years, it has become more and more important for me to find ways to both give and give back. I have long had the dream of starting an annual gingerbread house contest to benefit local organizations (read about my love of gingerbread here), and I'm thinking 2016 will finally be the year for that to become a reality. 

And while I always try to support causes near to my heart when I can, I decided it was time to get more serious. Taking cues from many of my fellow shop owners and entrepreneurs, I am launching a program starting in January to give 5% of sales to a different charity each month. I am excited to kick off the year by donating to one of the most important foundations in my life, UREF. You can read more about it on the website, but UREF is a men's health research and education foundation. As much as I love my ladies (kisses!!), I do have a bit of an issue with the emphasis placed on women's health versus men's. Let's not forget our guys!

Another unique way I have found to give back and double my return on precious hours is by using the new app Charity Miles. Shout out to hubs for the great find! Like most of us, I use RunMonster or something similar to track my activity, calories, etc during my runs. Charity Miles has most of the same functionality (GPS, activity log, etc) but also allows you to run your favorite tracker app in the background as well. For each mile run or walked, 25 cents is donated to your charity of choice, paid for by sponsorship partners. Bikers earn 10 cents per mile. The charity partners currently consist of the larger and more familiar organizations, but they are chosen based on demand...so I am hopeful and confident that many, many more of your dearest causes and charities will be added as the app gains popularity. (download here)

Finally, AmazonSmile. Especially during this time of year, I know almost ALL of us are taking advantage of Amazon and Amazon Prime. But so few of the purchases on Amazon are made using AmazonSmile, which gives back a small percentage of each purchase to your chosen charity. Unlike Charity Miles, any organization can register for this. If you are looking for something to support, I urge you to input UREF as your charity of choice. Follow the steps below to do this, and simply go to smile.amazon.com (it will automatically link your normal Amazon profile and info) each time you make a purchase. It costs you nothing and changes nothing about your Amazon experience but will help many organizations more than you can imagine. 




Happy holidays to all of my foxes, and happy giving!