Every day, our partner Friends in Action of the Eastern Panhandle works hard to bring about positive changes in the lives of motivated low-income families in their West Virginia community.

In the past 5 years alone, FIAEP has recruited and trained more than 185 volunteers, logging nearly 5,550 volunteer hours. These hours have been used to provide training in life skill areas that we might take for granted, such as job hunting, household budgeting, parenting and preparing cost-effective meals.

Friends in Action really makes a difference in the lives of the people they work so hard to help. Check out this inspiring story from FIAEP about one of their families:

“One of our mentor teams has been working with an intergenerational family who was living in a trailer park when they first entered the program. Today this family is buying a home in a nice subdivision complete with a yard for the little girl, ample room for privacy for the mom and closer to work for the grandfather. When the team first started working with this family, the mother was seriously depressed. Through the support and encouragement of her team, her depression is well maintained on medications and she is enrolled in college part-time, eager to work after being unemployed for more than a year. The team assisted her in enrolling in a course of study, obtaining financial aid and provided tutoring which resulted in a “B” average. Recently, the team was able to find resources for her to continue receiving the medications which have helped stabilize her depression. She is also taking a yoga class for the first time which will help her feel better physically and mentally. The next goal is to orient her to internet usage which will assist her in continuing her training program and aid her job search.”

If you’d like to support Friends in Action of the Eastern Panhandle, our “Teach a Person to Fish” shirt is available by clicking here. For every shirt purchased, $5 will go directly to FIAEP. And you can do even more by visiting www.fiaep.org to make a donation or find other ways to help.

Our “Giving Knows No Boundaries” shirt – which helps raise funds for the American Red Cross‘ Haitian earthquake relief efforts – is featured in the May 2010 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, as part of their “Sweet Chari-Tees” article highlighting cause-related T-shirts. Check it out!

Used with permission from Ladies’ Home Journal® magazine. ©Copyright 2010 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

A shirt can just be a shirt, but as we know, it can also be a way to raise money, raise awareness and raise thought.

"Giving Knows No Boundaries" Haiti Relief T-shirt

The Giving Knows No Boundaries shirt is a simple design with a powerful message. The blue and green colors, taken directly from a map, should remind us that we all live on the same earth. And when our neighbor is in trouble, we should help.

This message also not only challenges us to give, but reminds us to give beyond our own backyard – maybe even beyond our own comfort level. And from what we’ve seen, a few dollars from a lot of people adds up to a tremendous amount.

For this shirt, we’ve chosen to donate to the American Red Cross. They have been providing volunteers, first aid and supplies such as drinking water, tents and tools. They are also comforting children and providing support to those who have suffered emotional trauma.

But although we’d love for you all to purchase one of OUR shirts, we just simply encourage you to give in any way, to any reputable charity, to help provide some sort of relief to our neighbors whose world has been turned upside down.

In November, we found a pleasant surprise in our inbox. It was a message sent via our contact form from Bert Jacobs, Chief Executive Optimist of Life is Good. Yes, that Life is Good – the worldwide feel-good apparel company!

Apparently a co-worker turned him onto our site and he wanted to reach out. Here’s what he said:

“I just wanted to say hello and give you praise for your concept. Business and social work are considered different disciplines in most cultures. We have never believed that at LIG. It is clear to see that you don’t believe that either.”

We’ll be honest – at first we thought it might be a hoax or spam. But after a little more correspondence, we realized we were talking to the real thing!

We don’t do what we do for those who are watching – we do it for those who are needing. But sometimes it’s nice to know people are taking notice! It makes everything all the more worthwhile. : )

While bringing you opportunities to support state, national and international non-profits, we have learned that many of your efforts to raise money are locally focused. That’s where our new fundraisers come in!

We’ve developed a new fundraising program for groups that is especially helpful when hosting events, distributing materials throughout the community or meeting constituents in person. You can rally people to your cause by selling your own branded apparel and use the proceeds to benefit your group.

Our fundraising efforts operate much like our Exclusive Partnerships, except sales are handled primarily by the organization. We work with each group to provide free artwork - the design is donated at no cost to you.

We will also provide paper order forms for your event or to keep on hand, as well as post the fundraiser on our website. When the order forms are turned in and the money is collected, Greater Than Goods will produce the shirts. Again, at no upfront cost to the organization. You are only charged a wholesale cost when orders are turned in.

Are you looking to generate money for an important cause? We can help! Some inspiration for fundraisers include:

• Offsetting a friend or family member’s medical expenses
• Paying for new hospital equipment
• Restoring a historical site
• Building a new animal shelter

We hope that by adding yet another way to raise funds, we can help your group as much as possible! Contact me to chat more about Greater Than Goods and how we can help your organization!