Happy Sunday Shout Out

Good Morning.  Happy Sunday.

Hope your week end is a good one.

I think some of you know that I have a Girlfriend Charity Christmas Party every year on the first Friday in December.

I started this about 8 years ago and would gather up all my girlfriends and we would get together to celebrate our friendships.  The catch to the party is that we would do a girlfriend gift exchange and each person had to buy a special gift that some or most of the proceeds went to a charity from purchasing the gift.

It amazes me each year the beautiful and thoughtful gifts each friend brings to the party for the exchange.

Everyone goes home with a great gift and touching story behind why the gift was purchased to benefit that particular charity.

It is a fun night of laughs, tears, hugs and celebrating the love we have for each other in friendship.

This year I found my gift for the party and also did a little more early Christmas shopping for gifts.

I have to give a shout out to this group because not only do they have a wonderful gift they also touch the lives of other women in need in so many ways.

I also grew up near where this company is located in Michigan.  I know that area well and this certainly is a great cause.

I want to share this with you so if you can think of anyone that you have on your gift list that might benefit from these lovely bags and know that your gift goes a long way to help so many others.

The company is called BetterLifeBags and is 

the vision of Rebecca Smith.

Rebecca also has a blog.

This is their Mission and a short video.

Enjoy learning about this company and it great cause.

The mission of Better Life Bags is simple:  make lives better!

My family and I moved on purpose to a low income area of Detroit  in 2010.  Because the unemployment rate here is 20%, we have an awesome opportunity for BLB to give back to the community that we operate out of!

We hire women, who otherwise cannot get jobs, to work for BLB.  We rent them a sewing machine and tools while teaching them a skill set that allows them to become a primary or secondary provider in their families.  Most of these women are first generation immigrants from countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, and Bangladesh, so we are also able to provide them with much needed fellowship and friendship as we visit their homes to deliver fabric and pick up orders.

This 90 second video shows a little of our town and purpose

That’s not all, though.  We are currently beginning a partnership with a local sewing group of women {originally from Bangladesh} who desire to learn the skill of sewing and potentially earn a living wage from their hard work and training. They currently make all of our Key Fobs, Buntings, and are learning how to make our Laptop Bags.

They have ready made bags for purchase and they also have custom bags that you can make up to your own taste.  I got a gift certificate for the person who wins my gift at this years party so they can custom make a wristlet or cell phone holder with their own choices.

Here are just a few samples of the bags.  Please visit their website to see all the lovely choices and think of gifts and know that you will be giving to a good cause.  Love gifts that keep on giving.

So please stop by Better Life Bags and check out all the wonderful choices of gifts in all price ranges.  Just know that by giving this gift to someone it will also be giving a gift to another person in need.

Shhhh hope they are not reading this but I did up gift certificates for my two daughters for a Christmas gift and they can then go and custom make up a beautiful bag for themselves.  So special and custom and also love that it gives back.

Have a great start to the new week.

Kris

:)