An educational, green way to fund-raise for your school or favorite organization, The Equal Exchange Fund-raising Program allows donors to buy high-quality, delicious products while supporting small-scale farmers and artisans who, in turn, support their communities and the environment. The fund-raiser features Equal Exchange’s organic and fairly traded coffee, tea, cocoa, and healthy snacks, and Ten Thousand Villages’ handmade and fairly traded crafts and gifts from small-scale artisans around the globe.

An added bonus? Kids learn about where their food comes from and how everyday actions as small as buying a candy bar can affect farmers and families around the world. Perfect for school fund-raisers that typically feature cheap products and low-quality candy, Equal Exchange even provides free, downloadable lesson plans and short videos for the classroom.

“Our Equal Exchange fund-raiser was much more than a fund-raiser; it was a vehicle that sparked conversations among our students, faculty, and parents about how our behaviors and practices in our own community impact communities across the globe. Besides, it’s easy to choose organic and fair trade when it tastes great!”
– Brimmer and May School

Have you heard of Team Rubicon, a group that provides disaster relief? Here’s a letter we received yesterday:

I just wanted to let you know that we love your product. We were on the ground in Tacloban, Philippines, 4 days after the storm hit doing relief work and setting up operations for our teams out there. Conditions that first week were challenging and extreme. We never complained, and your instant (just add water) pouches of food sure helped.

We ate the awesome Outrageous Outback Oatmeal in the mornings and fought over the Shepherd’s Pie in the evening. We didn’t have the luxury of taking a lot of them, but when the 15 of us were able to sit down to eat them, it was all smiles.

I have some photos of us enjoying it, if you’d like them. We’d love to stay in touch and take them with us on our next deployment. We’re exploring the possibility of heading back there in the coming weeks.

Thanks!

“The story of Team Rubicon was written by a team of eight who travelled to Haiti to provide aid immediately after the 2010 earthquake. Today, that story is continued through the service of over 8,000 strong. The phrase “burn the boat” refers to the general, who upon landing on the enemy’s shore, orders his men to burn the boats so that there is no path other than forward toward victory. From Joplin to Burma to Rockaway Beach, we’ve crossed the Rubicon. Now, we burn the boat.”

Find out how you can support or join the team at http://www.teamrubiconusa.org.

And take a minute to watch their awesome video. Just AWESOME!