 We have a lot of caregivers, educational stakeholders, and families in our See Beautiful Community. We also have an amazing opportunity for you to get kids involved in an art project that leads to more beautiful for an extraordinary non-profit: Helping Mamas! Short story: Your kid(s) creates a piece of art depicting "A Vision of Unity" and it will be on display at Helping Mama's Art Show!  More details: Helping Mamas is an amazing Atlanta non-profit doing incredible work to empower families and organizations in need. They're hosting an Art Exhibit called: A Vision of Unity. All of the art displayed will be student art work and YOUR kid(s) can create it! The art will be matted by Helping Mama's and on display at their event on Saturday, May 13th at The Hudgens Center for the Arts. Please let us, or Helping Mama's, know if you'd like to participate and we can get you additional details! Visit Helping Mama's invitation HERE. Know a non-profit we should partner with? Tell us about them on our nomination/application page. Inspired by this post and want to spread the word? Share away.... Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & Owner, See Beautiful
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Have you heard of the app Charity Miles? Well, now you have. Charity Miles makes giving to charity about as easy as it possibly can be, especially for you runners, bikers, walkers, and hikers. For every mile you walk or run, 25 cents is donated to a favorite charity. If you bike, it's 10 cents a mile. Yup. It’s really that easy.  Image courtesy of Unsplash You can choose from a list of well-known, hugely impactful charities that are leaders in their respective areas and of course, doing some serious good across a wide range of issues. You can choose an organization that is near and dear to your heart, or pick a different organization every month. Charity Miles also works great if you’re participating in a race or charity walk. You can double your impact and encourage your team to download as well. You can even create a team within the app. So, if you haven’t downloaded Charity Miles, do it. Go ahead. We’ll wait why you download it. Enjoy this cute picture while you download Charity Miles.  Image courtesy of Unsplash Ok, are we good? It’s downloaded? Ok, then. Now, get moving and giving! Have you used Charity Miles? What are some other super easy ways to give that you'd love to share? Let us know in the comments. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator See Beautiful is honored have the opportunity to cross the paths of our amazing partners through our Humanitarian Giving Initiatives. When you purchase through See Beautiful, not only do you get your ethically-sourced, high quality, and great looking product, but you can also rest assured knowing that $5 of that purchase goes directly to organizations or families that are creating more beautiful in the world. And, you get to pick which organization or family that donation goes to. So, what happens once the Giving Initiative is funded? Well, the work certainly doesn’t end there. Our partners are out there living their missions. Every. Single. Day. From supporting the education of schoolchildren, to protecting animals, to caring for a family member, to bringing a smile to the faces of the elderly (and way, way more), the See Beautiful Giving Initiative recipients truly make a difference in the lives of those they touch. The See Beautiful team gets to celebrate the impact of your generosity, but you don’t always see the end result. So, we’ll be sharing more of this Giving in Action with you, so that you can celebrate along with us. To get us started, you might remember Jacob from Love for the Elderly. At age 14, Jacob started Love for the Elderly to bring generations together, and to show our elderly friends and family that folks out there care for them. The See Beautiful Giving Initiative helped launch the Sunshine Box program, and each purchase you made to support Love for the Elderly’s Giving Initiative funded a Sunshine Box for an elderly person. Well, here it is, guys! Watch the joy as Jacob distributes a box. Don’t you love her reaction? Her future's so bright, she’s gotta wear shades, right? Thanks, Jacob and Love for the Elderly, for spreading beautiful and sunshine, and for becoming a part of the See Beautiful family. Here’s what Jacob had to say about the experience of working with See Beautiful through the Giving Initiative: See Beautiful was absolutely amazing in every way! We worked with See Beautiful to raise funds for our Sunshine Box program, which distributes little boxes filled with fun, cute goodies for seniors who deserve a bit of extra sunshine in their day. We're so thrilled that we now have $1500 to use to help build and expand this program. It wouldn't have been possible without the incredible support from the See Beautiful team, who always helped if we had any questions or concerns. Want to hear from more of our Giving Initiative partners? Check out these amazing testimonials. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader. -Derek Sivers Love Grows. And so does giving.  Don’t you adore this reclaimed wood wall hanging? It serves as a daily reminder that the more we love, the more love exists in the world. Love isn’t a finite resource. There is truly no limit. Giving works the same way. It takes that first courageous soul to be willing to give. Whether it’s time, energy, money, or even giving your simple belief in an idea worth believing in, your action can start a movement of giving that snowballs into something immense. With no edges or confines. Watch a movement grow in this great 3-minute Ted Talk by Derek Sivers. And if you don’t start a movement, you’re still giving. And that’s beautiful, too. Do you know an organization or family that could benefit from a See Beautiful Giving Initiative? Follow along, nominate one now, and grow the love. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator Friendship is a sheltering tree. - Samuel Taylor Coleridge The image of the sheltering tree does so perfectly reflect the love and support of a dear friend. It towers over us when we need it. A tree can be a refuge, a protector, and a haven. It provides cover in rain and shade in heat and reminds us of the importance of strong roots. Or, when our roots are wavering, the tree stands firm, holding us up.  Image Courtesy of Unsplash Just as a tree can be all of this, so can a friend. With giving at its core, the See Beautiful community truly exemplifies this definition of friendship. The word support seems to come up over and over when explaining how our Giving Initiatives work. See Beautiful aims to support. To lift up. To reinforce. We try to be a tree to our Giving Initiative recipients. But, also, you are our tree. Today, and everyday, we are grateful for the relationships that See Beautiful has helped to encourage and grow. From the lifelong friendships sparked at a See Beautiful Club meeting, to the partnerships we’ve built through our Humanitarian Giving Initiatives, to the enthusiastic community that supports these initiatives, purchases See Beautiful products, follows us on social media, or is a living example of seeing beautiful, thank you.  Image Courtesy of Jannan Poppen At the risk of sounding too Golden Girls-y, thank you for being a friend. Thank you for supporting the incredible organizations and families with whom See Beautiful has had the honor of partnering. Thank you for being our sheltering tree. AuthorJannan Poppen, Giving Coordinator “Love knows nothing of short hauls because it has committed itself for the long haul.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough We're in it for the long haul. Our love isn't going anywhere. I stare at the faces of these amazing, resilient, loving, trusting, hope-filled girls and they make me see beautiful. I listen to their conversations that empower each other and come together to plan ways to make the world - THE WHOLE WORLD - a better place and it gives me chills. I watch them turn dreams into action and I cannot imagine not having learned from them. Their lives have been filled with much fear as refugees, losing their home and all they know. Can you imagine? As a child? Their lives have been shaken in ways children should never experience. I love knowing that when they needed comfort and love our Country had open arms and provided a home of refuge - a place where children could run and play and feel safe. We are a people who love and serve and give. We love our neighbor. We love strangers. This is why we are here: To love everyone. Always. When our ability to love others is threatened, we dig in. We're strong and awesome like that. Love can't be stopped. The girls in our See Beautiful Clubs know this and I'm so glad they do. I'm so glad they'll never have to wonder if they're valued and loved here. They are. We work to reinforce this understanding all the time. We're a country of WE - a WE that brings love to the table and we're in it to win it. Love always wins.  Author: Lydia Criss Mays; Founder of See BeautifulThe beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." ~ B.B. King Join us in celebrating our newest giving initiative with the Kutemwa Foundation. The Kutemwa Foundation, alleviates the cost of schooling for young children in Lusaka, Zambia, by providing funding for required school supplies. Additionally, many children with whom they support are vulnerable to not being able to continue education or are orphans and must receive supplemental financial support to attend school. Since schools in Zambia work on a trimester schedule, there are three points during the year they look provide funding for school supplies including books, pencils, paper and more to the tune of $6-7 per child. Additionally, when the school year starts many children do not have the means to pay for tuition or school uniforms. And while this is only Kutemwa Foundation's first year of operation, they are working to collect livelihood gifts to bless children with for the coming year (i.e., soap, toothbrushes, etc). How your purchase helps: Your purchase provides a child with required school supplies for an entire trimester. Additional funding from this Giving Initiative will provide tuition for students who need the supplemental support. Connect with Kutemwa Foundation directly here, Facebook, & Instagram.
We're sharing Refuge Coffee Co.'s gift today. It truly is something to smile about. If you don't know Refuge Coffee Co in Clarkston, GA, treat yourself and go there. Now. Seriously. And when you go, be sure to meet Leon Shombana. His Congolese accent is like Christmas for your eardrums. Order the Nepali Chatpati (I dream about it). Clearly grab a coffee or tea because they're all divine. And take a load off in their home. You're always welcome. Refuge Coffee is a special place for a lot of reasons. It's a dream that has been brought to life. It is a space where all are welcome and loved. Loved well, actually. Centered in what CNN dubs, "the most diverse square mile in America" Refuge Coffee celebrates the diversity that everyone brings to the table. You sit down with a stranger and end up engaged in an hour long conversation about historical significance of African boarder placement with maps drawn on the white board (that also serendipitously dons the words, "The world needs more of you."). Take thirty seconds to disengage from the hustle of life and the scroll of social media to let Leon make you smile. I can watch this video on repeat. To dangle the carrot, because it's beautiful written to, here's what Leon has to say about home, which is truly beautiful since it would be easy for Leon not to see beautiful. He was forced from his home in Eastern Congo and came to the US as a refuge. He's rewritten his definition of home after the life he has led. With Refuge Coffee, he's writing a beautiful story. We should all want homes like Leon has. "My idea of home, is a place you live peacefully. Is a place you have good neighbors. Is a place you can interact with people. And if you look at what Refuge Coffee is doing, that is what you call home. It is a place you can find life. Is a place you have good neighbors. Is a place you can share your problems...and you rejoice with your friends or your relatives or your neighbors..." ...now hear it in Leon's voice. And I would be remiss to share that Refuge Coffee is currently working to permanently find a #Home4Refuge and you can be a part of making that home a reality here: https://www.purecharity.com/createahomeforrefuge WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: https://vimeo.com/191002544 Author: Lydia Criss Mays, Founder of See Beautiful Photo by Cassie aka LeFoxy The following poem was written by Cassie aka LeFoxy to honor the love of a child. It is quite simply, beautiful: The Beauty Love Left Behind "A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me. It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it." Are you looking for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of proceeds from every purchase is donated to the See Beautiful Giving Initiative of your choice. Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & Owner, See Beautiful "Childhood is that state which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle instead of an opportunity." ~ Kathy Williams  Puddles aren't the only things we start to see as obstacles as we grow older and perhaps, out of our wise-ness. Have you ever had the treat of watching children ride bikes? They're not doing it to burn calories, they're doing it because it's flat out fun. Pedaling up a hill means you've won an invisible race, not "gotten your burn on." Asking mom or dad if you can go on a bike ride isn't the equivalent of asking them to drop you off at a spin class. When did FUN become WORK? When did opportunities become obstacles? This topic certainly isn't a new one, but it's worth the reminder that this philosophical question is answered in a matter of perspectives. It's a mind game. Is the day ahead of you an obstacle or an opportunity? We're seeing beautiful in today being an opportunity. Wanna jump in puddles with us? Are you looking for a tangible reminder to see beautiful, or know someone who needs one? Check out our See Beautiful™ products (and feel good knowing a portion of every sale is donated to the See Beautiful Giving Initiative of your choice). Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & Owner, See Beautiful |
See beautiful in yourself.
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