So, here’s the background
It goes like this. I closed my business, I gave my $$$ to charity and now I make up fun shit that can get us giving.
I’ll be honest, though.
This whole caper relies on you guys wanting to #giveashit about giving and going to the edge of our care with me. The way I decided to set up my charity enterprise was for you to kick in a donation and I then I match your donation dollar for dollar. It speed things up. It gets us all fired up together. It becomes a movement. It’s flow!
I also hope that by matching your donation with my cash you’ll be encouraged to give more.
It was an experiment I thought I’d try. If I go first, will others follow? (What do you think? Does it resonate that way for you?)
BTW Stellar Magazine did a gorgeous story on the project and I’ve put it up on my blog here.
Which brings us to…
The Two Good Co Wool Throw, raising money for women’s refuges
It works thus:
- I designed a lush merino wool throw rug that you generously buy, perhaps for Mother’s Day.
- When you buy one, another goes to a woman in need in a shelter to keep her warm during winter. These women have often fled domestic abuse, arriving with just the clothes on their backs.
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- You can choose blue or pink. The yellow cross through the centre represents us, and those in need, intersecting. Connecting.
- It’s made from (quite literally) all the wool scraps from the factory floor of Australia’s oldest mill – Waverley Mills – in Tasmania. Waverley supply premium stores like David Jones. The offcuts are shredded before being spun and blended with additional super-soft Tasmanian merino wool. The colour of each batch of the spun wool is a unique melange of whatever offcuts Andrew and his team in Tasmania retrieved at the time.
And here’s the kicker that accelerates things…
- For every blanket you purchase, another three will be going to women in a homeless shelter. Three for One! You will be tripling your impact!
A limited edition 400 throws will be available at $225 (for two; including postage to both yourself and the shelter). We will continue to produce as more offcuts become available. Also, the rugs will be supplied with a tracking number so you can see exactly where it has landed.
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Why Two Good Co?
I’ve worked with Two Good for almost five years, almost since Rob, the founder, began the charity. Two Good are a buy-one-give-one social enterprise that helps vulnerable women in shelters. You buy a salad or soup, designed by Australia’s top chefs such as Neil Perry and Kylie Kwong, and one goes to a woman in need in a shelter close to you. The meals are put into jars and delivered directly to offices and businesses. With every one sold, another is donated to a domestic violence shelter. Two Good has delivered more than 40,000 meals to refuges and shelters since business began in late 2016 and launched in Melbourne in late 2018. You can order some for your office here.
I’ve also worked with Rob on creating the Care Packs (organic, natural shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and cleanser) for Mother’s Day a few years back (order a pack now!), and the I Quit Sugar team and I cooked Christmas dinner for his King’s Cross shelter several years in a row.
I’m now the ambassador for Two Good Co. (We were worried this made me sound like an influencer who’s paid to do some vapid social posts…what do you think?)
The special thing about Two Good Co, it that it’s not a charity project where you throw some money at it and hope for the best. They not only provide food, beauty products and blankets, they also hire women from these shelters to produce the products themselves via traineeships (and then support the women to get jobs afterwards).
Rob also works to the notion that those in need should not be given scraps. The food has always been organic, the beauty products of the highest quality.
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Plus, the charity always ensures the donors are engaged by lettting them know the shelter the meal they gifted is going to. Which is why we’re supplying numbered codes with the blanket.
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I believe we all want to connect more at a heart level.
My collaboration with Rob and Two Good will be an ongoing one, and we will let you know as new projects come to fruition. Stay tuned!
PS. A quick update on where I’m at with my first charity project
My charity drive with World Bicycle Relief Project exceeded our expectations. Together we raised $30,000. enough to provide a whole school in Africa with bikes for their students. We’re working towards our next school, and we’re almost there! You can still head here to read more and donate to the cause.
