Giving and making an impact

I am a  member of the Everywhere Society and they provided me with this product for review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The holidays are such an awesome time of the year for us. It gives our family a chance to celebrate together, eat awesome food, travel and do good. The do good part is mainly because Jordan’s birthday is right after Christmas and each year, we’ve focused on giving and raising money for Camp No Limits. She’s hoping to send at least nine kids to camp in honor of turning nine.

But we aren’t blind to other needs and opportunities. That’s why I feel very lucky to have partnered with Macy’s Heart of Haiti program to let you know of a cool way to decorate your home and help Haitian artists. Every item purchased through the program provides sustainable income for a Haitian artisan and their extended family. The items are on sale at select Macy’s stores and on Macy’s website. You can see all of the department store’s “Gifts that Give Hope” online.

It doesn’t seem like it was ten years ago, but this upcoming January 12th is the fifth anniversary since the devastating earthquake in Haiti. We watched the recovery process very closely because so many of the quake survivors lost limbs and had to rebuild a new life with the help of prosthetics. Jordan and I collected prosthetics to donate and helped raise money. You can sometimes feel helpless. Programs like Heart of Haiti and Healing Hands for Haiti make an impact.

I was lucky to get the chance to experience one of the Heart of Haiti art pieces by decorating with a Tobacco Leaf Tray. I skipped the Thanksgiving decorations at my home since we aren’t hosting this year. I think the tray looks pretty awesome with extra sparkles and ribbon. The tray is made of  raw materials using a traditional papier mache technique by artists in Jacmel, Haiti. Here’s a little video about how the papier mache products are made.

I think it’s so empowering to see a way to help artists in Haiti have economically sustainable opportunities. Macy’s Heart of Haiti is just another way to give back during this season of giving. If you’re curious to learn more about the program, you can visit it on Twitter at @heartofHaiti or check out its Facebook page.

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