Charitable Gift Giving

We surf the Web to find good products that help out a great cause.

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Earth Day 2010 Sale from Novica

April 22nd, 2010 · Uncategorized

To celebrate Earth Day 2010, Novica is having a sale letting you take 10% off all eco-friendly gifts!.

If you don’t know what Novica is, it’s an organization that, in association with National Geographic, sells hand-crafted gifts created from developing areas all over the world. In a world where more and more things are produced with machines or mass produced with cheap labor (on most trips lately, I am shocked to find out that 90% of the souvenirs in any given area are made in China!), it’s a breath of fresh air to get handmade items from artisans in the actual areas where the art originated.

And of course, Novica helps people in developing areas make a living for themselves, their families, and their communities.

With this sale, Novica is featuring sustainable, natural, recycled, or reclaimed items. Every gift not only has a story, it helps the planet.

Click to the site and read all about the artists, the areas, the art, and the eco-friendliness.

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Blue Sky by Emily West and Rain is a Good Thing by Luke Bryan, as seen on Celebrity Apprentice

April 18th, 2010 · Uncategorized

On yesterday’s Celebrity Apprentice, the task for the celebrities was to makeover budding country artists Luke Bryan and Emily West. Corporate sponsors with new products to hock usually sign up to have their products improved, but of course in reality, the exposure their brand gets by being on national television usually far surpasses the benefits of whatever the apprentices do.

The same was true in yesterday’s case, but instead of marketing color printers or software, the product was two up-and-coming country singers, Luke Bryan and Emily West. Both are amazing young talents who definitely deserved to be featured on national TV. Their exposure was hardly American Idol numbers, but still, hopefully this could be the big break they needed to get widespread attention. Portions of their singles were shown on the show. Bryan’s song was a catchy, peppy country song, while West’s ballad was a moving song that had the audience in tears.

For the next month, if you purchase  the singles of either of these artists on iTunes, a portion of proceeds will be donated to Cyndi Lauper’s (the winning project manager’s) charity:

Luke Bryan – Rain Is a Good Thing (Live from Celebrity Apprentice)

Emily West – Blue Sky (Live from Celebrity Apprentice)

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Charity playing cards that benefit Haiti

April 16th, 2010 · AmeriCares, Developing Areas


The United States Playing Card Company, the leader in playing cards and makers of Bicycle cards, has released their Bicycle 2010 Hope for Haiti Playing Cards. It’s an official, regulation deck of playing cards with a ribbon of hope and the Haitian flag on the backs of the cards.

100% of the profits from these Hope for Haiti edition card, up to $1 million, will be donated to AmeriCares specifically for providing disaster relief to the earthquake-battered nation.

Of course, in addition to buying playing cards, be sure to consider a direct donation to some of the best charities to donate for Haiti relief. Even though the pictures aren’t on the news anymore and celebrities have stopped talking about it, the need is greater than ever for help.

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Long Sleeve T-Shirt for Kids

April 13th, 2010 · Children's Charities, giggle

This adorable ‘Cupcake’ Long-Sleeved Tee is great for kids because it was designed by a kid! This is one of several long sleeve T-Shirt Designs for shirts that fit children from 1-4 years old.

A portion of proceeds will be donated to Free Arts for Abused Children, a nonprofit organization which combines the healing and therapeutic power of arts into the lives of children and youth who have been abused, are homeless or are at-risk.

We love their playful designs and positive attitudes, plus the manufacturer gives back to the community. A portion of the profits go to both the young designers and the children’s charity, Free Arts for Abused Children.

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Dee’s Paradise flower bouquet from 1-800-Flowers, as seen on Undercover Boss

April 11th, 2010 · 1-800-Flowers.com

7/17/21 update:

1-800-Flowers has discontinued Dee’s Bouquet. If you’re looking for an arrangement with a similar vibe, their Floral Embrace or Tropical Sunrise are pretty good choices. But of course proceeds of those don’t go to charity.

If you are interested in a bouquet where proceeds go to a really good cause, check out their Good Day Bouquet. 20% of proceeds goes to Smile Farms. This is a charity that their founder and their CEO, Jim and Chris McCann, started to help give developmentally disadvantaged adults a chance at employment opportunities. I used to work for Jim and Chris and they’re good people. Definitely consider buying this bouquet, or donating directly to this great cause.

11/16/2013 update:

Episodes of the 1-800-Flowers Undercover Boss episode from 2010 are still being broadcast, and it looks like they’ve redesigned Dee’s Bouquet for a third time. In my opinion, this third design is the best. Unlike past versions of Dee’s Bouquet, which something tells me were probably just previous designs that they decided to rename in time to make the TV show, this one was clearly designed from the ground up and really seems to capture Dee’s personality as it looked on the TV show.

7/6/2012 update:

If you recently saw the rebroadcast of Undercover Boss, since the show was originally broadcast they’ve redesigned Dee’s Paradise to become Dee’s Tropical Paradise. It’s a beautiful arrangement with roses, ginger, anthurium, Birds of Paradise, Ti leaf, palm leaf, and myrtle.

For the record, the producers of the show painted Chris’s brother Jim in somewhat of an unpleasant light, probably because they thought it made for better TV. I happen to know Jim, and he is genuinely one of the kindest, funniest, and most brilliant men I know. He’s someone who loves his family tremendously and who treats his employees fairly and with a smile. Long story short, never believe everything you see on TV 🙂

Original Post: 

dee's paradise flowersThe season finale of Undercover Boss was yet another great episode in a great series. I actually wonder how much longer this series can go on, because there’s no way the “cover” to explain camera crews (“we’re filming a documentary on entry-level jobs”) will hold up. I guess they’ll just have to film in places that don’t get CBS 🙂

Tonight’s episode featured Chris McCann of 1-800-Flowers, and a floral designer in Boston named Dee, who reminded him of the lesson that success in the florist industry isn’t counted by numbers of flowers you sell, but by how great a relationship you have with your customers.

At the conclusion of the show, Chris reported to Dee that a flower arrangement, Dee’s Paradise
icon, has been named after her. In addition, a portion of proceeds from sales of this arrangement will go to a scholarship fund for budding (no pun intended) florists and flower designers at the non-profit organization American Institute of Floral Designers. The bouquet is available on 1-800-Flowers now.

It was a heartwarming way to end a great season for a great new show. Congrats to CBS and 1-800-Flowers for a very entertaining evening!

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Original Textbook Used in the early United States – The New England Primer

April 7th, 2010 · Amazon

From the 1700s to the early 1900s,  the New England Primer was the textbook used in all schools around the United States. It’s the textbook that many of our founding fathers learned how to read from.

This is a great reproduction of this book. It looks and reads exactly as it did in 1777.

WallBuilders is a neat 501(c)(3) organization which has an astounding library of many first edition books from the nation’s founders. There is no place where you can get a more accurate reproduction of the original Declaration of Independence or the original Constitution and Bill of Rights, not to mention reprints of many historical books. In a world where modern historians seem to have a penchant of rewriting history to suit their contemporary audience, it’s neat to go back to the original sources and learn what life was really like.

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Soap that raises money for landmine removal and support

April 4th, 2010 · Developing Areas, Uncommon Goods

After years of being devastated by war, hidden and unexploded land mines continue to be a danger in Cambodia, continuing to harm innocent men, women and children.

These unique soaps were designed to bring awareness to this continuing scourge, as well as to raise money for landmine removal and help for survivors. For each soap sold, $2 is donated to The Cambodia Landmine Museum, which houses a school and an orphanage for up to 30 at-risk children.

The goal is cleverly in the shape of a landmine; the metaphor is that as the soap disappears, so do the landmines. The soap is available in Rosemary Mint or Coconut, is made from all-natural ingredients and is never tested on animals. Landmine Soap is available at Uncommon Goods.

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Diamond bracelet that supports education in Africa

April 1st, 2010 · Developing Areas, Macys

This is a simple but elegant bracelet that features a 1/6 carat round-cut diamond bracelet that features a 1/6 carat round-cut diamond that’s set in 14k gold over sterling silver. The entire setting is placed on a beautiful leather strap.

Proceeds from this bracelet, designed by Rachel Bilson, goes to help educate and empower people in Africa, specifically the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), which is a non-profit organization that promotes education in Africa.

The bracelet is available exclusively at Macys.

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Lifelock and Norton 360 Bundle from the Celebrity Apprentice

March 29th, 2010 · Developing Areas

On last night’s Celebrity Apprentice, the women’s team, project managed by Olympic gold medal swimmer Summer Sanders, won the evening. As the victor, her charity, Right to Play (http://www.righttoplay.com/) got a $20,000 donation, as well as up to an additional donation from people who purchase the LifeLock and Norton 360 bundle at the promotional price of $79.99 ($10 of the purchase price will be donated, up to 2500 orders for a maximum of up to an additional $25,000). Right to Play is a great charity which uses sports to help children in developing nations.

They flashed the instructions on the screen very quickly, but to take advantage of this offer, just go to Lifelock.com and use promo code SUMMER.

Yesterday was also the day Darryl Strawberry walked away from the Celebrity Apprentice. His charity was the Darryl Strawberry Foundation which helps kids with autism. While he raised no money for them on the show, it’s still very much a worthy cause. A donation can be made at http://www.darrylstrawberry.com/ds/.

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Great Lodges of the National Parks Book

March 26th, 2010 · Amazon, Uncategorized


Great Lodges of the National Parks is the companion book to the PBS Television Series of the same name (which aired in 2002).

Filled with the same great photography of the TV series, it provides an in-depth look at some of the nicest lodges in our National Parks, from Old Faithful Inn to Crater Lake Lodge. You’ll see images of the interior and exterior of the lodges themselves, as well as wildlife and vistas.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book go toward the rehabilitation of these magnificent buildings.

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