Monday, May 5, 2008

Mother's Day Gift (to be proud of): Charity Water Bracelet




Shopping for a cause can often be fun -- who doesn't love to purchase a pink item in support of breast cancer awareness month?--but often times, as a savvy shopper, I'd wonder how much of the proceeds go back to the charity cause, monetarily and results wise. 

That's why when I saw Saks Fifth Avenue's collaboration with Charity : Water, I had to tip a hat to the immediate impact of their Mother's Day advertising/shopping campaign. 
Charity : Water is a non-profit organization which builds fresh-water wells in developing countries. In areas like Africa, many women and children walk for miles to collect water --often from contaminated sources--for their daily needs. According to Charity : Water, unsafe water and unsanitary practices cause 80% of diseases in the world and kill 2.2 million people a day. 4,500 children die daily due to restricted access to clean water. 

Here's the kicker: buying one logo bracelet (in fashionable black!) will provide clean water to ONE PERSON for FIVE YEARS.  Now that one mother/child doesn't have to lug around a 40 gal. jug miles out to some dirty stream back home. Charity : Water states -- on their website -- that these products are earmarked for 100% construction purposes only (they raise adminstrative costs through other means). Now that's an immediate impact right there that I can visualize, justify, wear, and pay for.   

Charity Water Bracelet, $5 at Saks Fifth Avenue

If you're feeling more benevolent -- or hate wearing cause-bracelets -- the Saks and Charity Water collaboration promotes other gift options such as:
$20-$100 Mother's Day e-cards - Let mom choose which area in the world her donation should go to build fresh wells. 
Sponsor a Fresh Water Well  - $5,000 donation can provide drinking water for 400 people for 20 years.

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