Now is a great time to get educated on brands that make a positive difference as you do your holiday shopping for those you love and who make a positive difference in YOUR life!
Shopping local businesses is one of the best ways to give back. It takes bravery, tenacity, time, resources and grit to start a small business. Local businesses are asked multiple times a week to sponsor events,sports teams, golf outings and local benefits and causes.
SHIFT alone has donated more than $10,000 in gifts, prizes and sponsorships to local organizations this year. But we want you to know that shopping local often means supporting other businesses that ALSO GIVE BACK. When we source collections and merchandise for our retail boutique, we prioritize sustainability, including upcycled goods, eco-friendly fabrics and products with recycled content. We also look for brands that have a social justice lens for giving back. Here are a few examples of retailers doing good with their profits:
DIFF Charitable Eyewear believes in seeing well, looking good and doing good, all in harmony. The company has helped millions of people gain access to vision care. By partnering with Vision To Learn, DIFF shares the mission of ensuring every child, in every school, everywhere in America, has the glasses they need to succeed in school and life. They bring mobile clinics for eye exams and glasses directly to children in need at their schools.
INK+ALLOY handcrafts jewelry and accessories with seed beads. Every piece begins in its Atlanta studio and is brought to life by skilled artisans in India using centuries-old techniques such as hand-beading, weaving and metalwork. Ink + Alloy donates a portion of proceeds from every order to Commit2Change, a nonprofit providing education, housing and support for orphaned and underserved girls in India. Founder Gretchen Hollingsworth started the woman-owned accessory brand after a transformative trip to India, making it a priority to support the region that inspired her business.
Goodr Sunglasses gives 1% for the Planet. Goodr donates 1% of annual sales, not just profits, directly to certified environmental nonprofits, with lifetime giving exceeding $2.5 million. The company has also released eco-friendly recycled sunglasses, including “These Shades Are Trash,” with 100% of proceeds supporting the initiative.
Cecelia Jewelry, founded and owned by women in Minnesota, was built with a mission to leave the planet better than they found it. The company plants one tree for every piece of jewelry purchased. Its partnership with Trees for the Future supports positive ecological impact, including absorbing carbon emissions and filtering air and water through trees planted daily.
ABLE is an ethical fashion brand built to create jobs and help break the cycle of poverty for women overcoming adversity. The company provides safe, fair-wage employment to female artisans who have overcome addiction, homelessness or exploitation. Every garment comes with a lifetime guarantee to reduce fashion waste.
TELETIES is a fashion lifestyle brand best known for its strong-grip, no-rip hair ties that give back. Every purchase yields a donation to FORCE, a nonprofit committed to improving the lives of people and families affected by hereditary breast, ovarian and related cancers. More than 6.4 million packs of TELETIES have been sold, and 20% of proceeds from a limited-edition design support NICU education and patient-family care.
Supporting local artisans through ticket purchases at Flint cultural institutions contributes to our local and regional economies and supports artists who are themselves small-business entrepreneurs.
ALL of the brands featured in this article and more can be found at SHIFT.
Shannon White is an architect, designer and fashionista – a small but mighty cheerleader of all things Flint! Holding both Bachelor of Science and Master of Architecture degrees from the University of Michigan, she is the founder of the FUNchitecture design firm and co-founder of the new she-powered Downtown Fenton retail business, SHIFT.
