Giving Back

Born into an Akha hill tribe village in Northern Thailand, Ging started out with nothing. She was left with no home, no education, no work — no opportunity to live a decent life.

Last month Gaiam staffers contributed 40 fully-packed backpacks to the Crayons to Calculators school supply drive, which aims to provide 5,000 backpacks to children in need to start their school year off right.

Our staff’s huge outpouring of support for the Crayons to Calculators program is clear in this mountain of donated backpacks … The girls from Gaiam’s HR team paused for a photo before prepping the packs for volunteers to fill at our Boulder, Colo., headquarters.

“Our garden has gotten people so fired up,” says Kate Weaver, a lead volunteer in a team of Gaiam employees who’s bringing a new organic garden to life at our Boulder, Colo., headquarters. “I’ve never seen so much heart go into anything.”

Citizen journalism, open government, status updates, community building, information sharing, crowdsourcing, and the election of a President.

A guest post from Max Gladwell

The inauguration of Barrack Obama represents a turn toward our better selves. Humility. Mindfulness. Compassion. Honor. Respect. Service. Giving back. Making a difference. It is the fulfillment of Yes We Can. But it is only the beginning.

The following quote is taped to the inside of my medicine cabinet; it reminds me that everyday is a new day to connect with something greater than myself.

A friend of mine received a Christmas card from her niece that contained this recount. I share it with you…

A family, traveling to visit relatives for the holidays, stopped at a restaurant for a bite. The parents were tired, their two kids cranky. Food and warmth and a break from the winter roads beckoned. They were shown to a table and given a booster seat for the toddler and a high chair for the baby. Mom and Dad ordered coffee and food and they settled in to wait.

‘Tis the giving season, and just in time for the holidays, we have 25 great gifts for you, and they’re free! However, they’re not just any ordinary gifts — we’re presenting the opportunity to do something special this year by offering the gift of giving to you.

Does fair trade work? See how in the words of these five artisans — a few of the many shared with us from artisans and fair trade partners whose creations we offer through our One World by Gaiam Marketplace.

“Before I didn’t have enough money for three meals a day.

Hagar in Cambodia

In our society we’re very concerned about how little we care, how selfish and greedy we are. We realize that we need to care more, we need to have more compassion, we need to have more empathy, we need all that.

My Mom and Dad always told me it was important to help others in need, but even though our family works with refugees I sometimes forget why.

Boys from Karen State in Burma pray at a refugee camp sustained by Partners Relief & Development, founded by Elise’s parents Steve and Oddny Gumaer.