FTF - A Twofer

As you may have guessed by the title, today's Fair Trade Friday is a twofer.  And, as if that's not enough, today's organizations are very special and personal to me.  First off, I'd like to introduce you to my sister-in-law.

This beautiful little girl is Anna.  She is one of three children my in-laws have adopted from China.  Now, I know the cliche is that I'm not supposed to get along with my in-laws, but that is the farthest thing from the truth!  I can honestly say I am so blessed to be a part of my husband's family, and so happy to get to be a part of their lives.  What impresses me the most is that, after their three boys were grown and (mostly) out of the house, my parents-in-law were willing to take in three more children, all of whom had special needs.  Anna, in particular, required multiple surgeries to repair a cleft palate.  Oftentimes, the stress and medical costs associated with the medical care a child like Anna would need would interfere in whether or not a family decides to adopt a child.  Which brings me to the first organization, Love Without Boundaries.

Now, technically, Love Without Boundaries isn't fair trade.  It is a non-profit organization, founded in 2003, that is "dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned and impoverished children in China, [providing] humanitarian aid in the following areas - Education, Foster Care, Healing Homes, Medical, and Orphanage Assistance. (from their website.)"  They are doing amazing things, including the fact that they helped pay for a surgeon in China to repair my sister Anna's cleft palate before she came home. (I told you they hit a personal spot for me!)  They have a whole array of ways to get involved listed on their website, including monetary donations, sponsoring a child, or with even more in depth ways.  However, if you're hoping to actually get some shopping ideas from today's post, I'll go ahead and introduce you to the second organization on the agenda today.

Meet Sevenly.  Sevenly sells T-Shirts, with a business model that is meant to raise money and awareness for multiple organizations.  Basically, they partner with a new organization each week, 52 each year, design a really cool T-Shirt, and donate $7 from each shirt to the charity of the week.  It's all explained in this nifty flow chart on their website.  In the past, they've partnered with some amazing organizations, such as Love146, water.org, and Autism Speaks.  This week, they're partnered up with, wait for it........... Love Without Boundaries!  They've got this amazing Tee-Shirt design available:

Seriously, how cool is this shirt!  It's also available in two other colors, AND, if there's a guy in your life, they come in a guy's style too.  And, if Tee-Shirts just aren't your thing, they also offer hoodies.

This style for Love Without Boundaries is only available for three more days, before Sevenly starts selling a new style for a new organization.  So, if you miss the time window, don't freak out!  I'm sure there will be even more organizations featured on the Sevenly site, with more amazing designs.  There's even a little box on the bottom of the site where you can enter your e-mail and get a preview of each week's shirt.  They're doing amazing things, and I hope you get a chance to check them out!

Thanks for reading today, and I hope you have an amazing weekend!