Giving Back with Braid Mission
OUR GIVING MISSION - BRAID MISSION “CARDS OF HOPE”
Being so inspired by Tom’s and FEED’s (and many newer companies) business model of giving back as customers shop at their store, I always thought about how I would want to give back. I’ve kept this in mind in the process of building the store; after careful consideration and discussion with Chin, we decided to write a card for the “Cards of Hope” project for every order we get.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND STORY
We started the store from searching for stickers to include and use for the “Cards of Hope” program organized by Braid Mission. (Read more about it below)
I was searching for cute stickers for kids in foster care, I wanted to include them in the cards I write because I remember how happy I was when I got stickers as a kid. Then it led to finding the cute sticker industry on Etsy. While looking at sticker stores on Instagram, we came across a large planner community which we were unaware of previously.
The planner community then brought us into the pen-pal, happy mail community where people use stickers in the same way we do! Put stickers all over cards, letters, envelopes, and include extra for the recipient! They call them “Happy Mail.”
It’s been so great connecting with the community on Instagram and see the creative ways people use their stickers.
WHO IS BRAID MISSION? AND WHAT IS “CARDS OF HOPE”
Braid Mission is an amazing organization with the goal to support foster youth in San Francisco. They pair a group of 3 mentors with one youth to create a community of support for the youth. All you need to do is show up one hour a week, and only one hour, to be with the youth. Some of the activities my group has done are walking around the neighborhood, playing card games at a cafe, writing cards for other youth, jewelry making, picnic at a park, just chat and share what we’ve been doing - super simple activity to give the youth the support they need.
I have volunteered at many places and they are all very good to work with, but Braid is on another level with their care and support for their volunteers. They not only put a lot of effort to help the youths, but also care deeply about the volunteers, whether it is related to the time volunteered with the youth or not. It has been so great working with them and learning along the way.
And “Cards of Hope” is their projects where they collects cards written by volunteers to a foster youth or social work to brighten their day. It can be a birthday card or an encouragement card because sometimes their birthday might be forgotten or they just need a little encouragement to help them get through the day. Join us to send joy! And be sure to include stickers in the cards as a little surprise 😉
If you are looking for a place to give back your time or money, make sure you check out BRAID!
GIVING BACK
Now that the store is up and running we want to set up a process of giving back - though we just started our store and still very small - we want to do what we can to support Braid Mission.
So we decided to write a “Cards of Hope” for every order we get and include some cute stickers! Help us support youths in foster care. 🙂