2011 was an amazing year for Prosperity Candle. As with any new organization, it had a lot of ups and downs, long nights for our teams, and many anxious moments. But as the year went on, we found our groove and grew as a social enterprise. Our team celebrated the new year with a lot of pride and anticipation about next steps for 2012.
We’d love to share some of our proudest accomplishments of 2011 here.
Growth of our Refugee Program
We’re proud to say that we were able to expand our local program with Burmese women refugees in our Northampton, MA location. We trained two new women, Mee Mee and Naw, and Moo Kho was promoted to a trainer and manager. The women now work together beautifully and create stunning candles. They’ve been pouring perfect candles for a diverse range of clients and working more regular hours with us. And they’re learning more English every day!
An Amazing Team
We’ve been so lucky to have had the support of so many talented and passionate people throughout Massachusetts – and some either further afield (Chicago, NYC, etc.). Thank you to Nichole, Brenna, Elizabeth, Anna, Lynn, Joan, Kalista, Sarah, Ashleigh, Liz, Andrea, Sarah, Min Min, Stephanie, Sophie, Allen, Grace, Lourdes, Nandi, Lisa, Priti and Jamie for all of your help! You’ve helped us improve our branding, our newsletter, our social media/blog, our online marketing, our PR efforts, our product collection, and our sales outreach. And you’ve helped us at sales events, packed boxes, transport the refugee women… the list goes on! You’ve been invaluable to our team’s success.
A Beautiful New Product Line that Spans the World
As you must have noticed, our product line has expanded dramatically with new gift sets, artisan candles and collaborations with fair trade groups creating coffee, chocolate, tea, and other handcrafted products. We have been proud of the growth of our collection – which now spans the world from Haiti to Kenya, Vietnam to Afghanistan, Iraq to Massachusetts! Keep watch for our Valentine’s Day products, soon to come!
Custom Candles for Corporate, Donor & Event Gifts
A big part of our growth has been thanks to business and nonprofit leaders interested in giving uniquecorporate, donor, and event giftsthat embody their organizational values. We are now customizing our candles with the branding of other organizations – complete with their colors, logo, messaging, and url. These candles have been purchased by groups like Amnesty International, Kiva, eBay’s Women’s Initiative Network, Women for Women International, the Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprise Conference, and FEED Projects, amongst many others! Thank you all for your support.
Deeper Partnerships with Nonprofit Causes
We have been proud to deepen our partnership with Women for Women International by becoming an alliance partner in addition to being a field partner. This means a commitment to supporting each others efforts to spread the word about our efforts and shared values.
We have also launched new collaborative efforts with groups like World Pulse and the Preemptive Love Coalition.
Faith-Based Partnerships
In 2011, we were excited to launch our first advent candle set for the advent season. It was a big hit!
We also started partnering with a number of faith-based groups committed to promoting social justice and undertaking humanitarian work around the world. We are proud to be working with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and Week of Compassion.
More soon on some exciting announcements for 2012!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 2 years since the earthquake in Haiti. This month has been abuzz with news and reports about post-earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. There has been a lot of work done but still so much more to do.
Our team has also been beginning to lay groundwork for our own expansion into Haiti to develop our candle-making entrepreneurship model for Haitian women. We’ll keep you posted on this as it develops. It’s keeping us busy!
In the meantime, if you want to support the renewal and rebuilding of Haiti, supporting Haitian artisans and businesswomen is a great way to do it! As you might know, we have a number of beautiful products from Haiti that help Haitians rebuild their lives.
This beautiful candle set brings together a handmade Haitian recycled steel drum candle stand – with a beautifully hammered design, with an Iraqi made pillar candle adorned by a pressed flower artist in the United States. 10% of the retail price is donated to Partners In Health, an organization that provides preferential health services to the poor and has been working in Haiti since 1985. We are proud to support their work.
What better way to light up a dark winter night but with a long-lasting pillar candle that illuminates the beauty of the Haitian candle stand?
This beautiful hand-hammered luminary and pillar candle make a beautiful gift and add so much elegance to a room. And, like all of our gifts, this one helps change women’s lives. The luminary is designed by a woman artisan in Haiti who is employing many others to create these stunning candle accessories. And the pillar candle is made by women in Iraq.
This beautiful gift set has a huge amount of impact around the world, Haiti included. 10% of this gift is donated to our friends at the Preemptive Love Coalition, which works to provide children with life-saving heart surgeries throughout Iraq.
The beautiful (and fragrant!) vetiver basket is handcrafted by artisans in Haiti, the soaps are handmade in Afghanistan and the pillar candle is made by women entrepreneurs in Iraq.
We’ve been neglecting you, faithful blog readers! Between a busy (and triumphant!) race to the holiday finish line, time relaxing with family over the holidays, and now ambitious plans in the works for 2012 (more soon on that), we have been otherwise distracted.
Ted Barber & Siiri Morley, Prosperity Candle Founding Partners (Photo Credit: Judith Kelliher for The Republican)
Much of the time away from the blog has been spent planning and strategizing about next steps. We’ve also in reveling in the tremendous amount of support we’ve had from our supporters. 2011 was a fantastic year for us and we’re looking forward to the rest of 2012.
Nazahat in Iraq with two of her children
The entry into a new year seems to always bring with it lots of big picture thinking. What’s the meaning of the past year? And what will we do with the new year? As part of our team’s own reflections, we thought we’d share this New York Times article that resonates with us. It’s based on a research done with elderly people – asking for life lessons on what worked and what didn’t. How to live life without regrets, so you enter old age feeling satisfied with what you’ve done. It offers advice on marriage, parenting, careers, happiness, wellness and growing old.
With 2 more days to order our gifts in time for Christmas, we thought it would be helpful to create a gift guide for our gifts that donate to nonprofit causes.
To help you choose the right gift and cause for everyone on your holiday gift list, we’ve compiled our top picks here. 10% of each product goes to these partners!
Sponsor Women Survivors of War
Women for Women International is an extraordinary partner of ours. They help women survivors of war rebuild their lives through social support, vocational skills and international sister-to-sister sponsorship. They work in some of the world’s toughest places. We have partnered with their program graduates in Baghdad, Iraq. Our Women for Women travel tin candle and our Global Sisters Candle set both donate 10% to support their work.
Women for Women travel tin candle gift
Global Sisters Candle Set
Broadcast Women’s Stories to the World
World Pulse is an extraordinary organization working to bring women’s voices into the mainstream so they can tell their own stories and connect with other women to create a global sisterhood. We are helping tell their story with our World Pulse travel tin set. On your next trip around the world, bring this travel tin set to remind you of the qualities you want to embody to create change in the world: courage, beauty, possibility. This comes in three enticing scents: tea infusion, lemongrass sage and arabian sandalwood.
World Pulse Travel Tin Set
Deliver Life-Saving Heart Surgery to Children in Iraq
Our friends at the Preemptive Love Coalition do incredible work in Iraq to provide children with life-saving heart surgery. They are saving children’s lives every day from congenital heart disease. Every one of these Peace and Prosperity gift sets supports their incredible work.
Peace & Prosperity Gift Set
Bring Critical Health Services to Haiti
Partners in Health is an incredibly dedicated organization working to advance health services for all. They work in numerous countries around the world but are perhaps best known for their work in Haiti. They see health services as a basic human right. We’re proud to offer ourBrighter Future Candle & Plate to benefit their work in Haiti.
A Brighter Future Candle & Plate
Advocate for Global Human Rights
Amnesty International needs no introduction. It has been an honor to collaborate with them on their 50th anniversary candle this year. This Vessel of Light benefits their work and shines a light on 50 years of human rights. They have been tireless advocates of justice and freedom for all and are responsible for freeing innumerable political prisoners. We are excited to collaborate with them as they dive deeper into gender equality with their first female Executive Director!
Amnesty Vessel of Light
Support International Volunteerism
The National Peace Corps Association is the organization that supports and connects returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Thousands of American volunteers span the world every year creating change for communities in need. But perhaps more importantly, the Peace Corps experience changes the volunteer’s lives forever. The National Peace Corps Association helps these returned volunteers continue to change the world for the rest of their lives. We’re proud to note that this National Peace Corps Association tin candle donates to their work and celebrates 50 years of the Peace Corps!
National Peace Corps Association Travel Tin Candle
We are beyond excited to be collaborating with World Pulse. There is so much alignment in our missions, approaches to creating change, and dreams of bringing women together around the world – through stories and gifts.
As part of our partnership, we have created the World Pulse travel tin candle set. It’s a sweet gift that sings out the mantra of “Courage, Beauty & Possibility.” Each candle in the set embodies these values and has a scent to match (tea infusion, lemongrass sage, arabian sandalwood)! It’s the perfect gift for a woman’s advocate in your life. Uplifting, yet centering. And, as always, the candles create a global connection between women as each candle comes with the name of the woman who made it.
We’re also donating 10% of every one of these sets to support World Pulse.
Want to learn more about them? In their words…
“World Pulse is a global media and communication network devoted to bringing women a global voice. We broadcast and unite women’s voices from around the world into a powerful force for change.
We produce a print and web magazine as well as host an interactive community newswire,PulseWire, where women can speak for themselves to the world and connect to solve global problems.
We are proud to be participating in the 4th annual FEED-raiser & market, hosted by FEED Projects, Urban Zen and Gilt City NYC, this Wednesday, December 14th. The event is both a holiday cocktail party and a “good for the world” shopping event — and everything benefits the fantastic work of the FEED Foundation.
The host committee is impressive – David & Lauren Bush Lauren, Donna Karan, Hugh Jackman, Bobbi Brown, Rachel Roy, amongst many others. And the venue is stunning – Donna Karan’s Urban Zen space is just divine.
We’ll be there (with bells on!) selling our finest Prosperity Candle gifts. Come support a great cause, mingle with passionate philanthropists and activists, and stock up on gifts that give back.
Christina Asquith is just amazing. She is a journalist who went into Iraq to follow the impact of the conflict on women’s lives. She later went to Afghanistan to continue reporting. Although she now lives in the Boston area, she is known for her incredible book called “Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family & Survival in the New Iraq”.
We reached out to Christina early on in our work when we were piloting our model in Iraq. She has always been very supportive as she has seen firsthand how important it is to support women in conflict zones.
We’re very proud that Christina is also one of our customers! Hear her explain why she chose Prosperity Candle for all of her holiday gifts that give back last year (hint: she loves the name of the woman on each candle!).
“Not just any candle” is right! Thank you, Christina.
Moo Kho is one of our star candle makers. She is an incredible woman with a quiet strength and inspirational story. Because of her industriousness, attention to detail and ability to lead others, she has been promoted to a management role with our refugee initiative. In this role she is responsible for many of the stunning candles that we are selling this holiday season.
Here is a sweet memory that she has of her grandmother’s garden. A peaceful memory of the life she had before the conflict her family experienced in Burma.
Now, hand in hand with Prosperity Candle, she is rebuilding her life here in the United States. One candle at a time.
Are you passionate about what social enterprise can do to empower women? Are you a fair trade advocate? Have you purchased a Prosperity Candle gift, written to the woman who made it and now want to do more?
We’re excited to announce a new way of engaging with our mission: Now you can help offer a microloan to Prosperity Candle at the same time you purchase a gift! The Hoop is another social enterprise that we have partnered with that makes this all possible.
Take a look at our bundles!
Thank you to The Hoop team for profiling our work so beautifully! Take a look at their other microloan/gift bundles here.
Women for Women International, a fabulous organization founded by Zainab Salbi works to empower women survivors of war, was our very first partner. They have been our most valued partner, as they helped us launch our work in 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq with a group of women (mostly war widows) who had graduated from the Women for Women sponsorship program. Without their support, we simply couldn’t have started our work. And it certainly wouldn’t have been as well-designed for the women in Iraq.
Here is a screenshot of a blog post that they just featured us in:
Now we’re excited to share that we are also collaborating with Women for Women Headquarters in Washington DC. Not only are we working with graduates, but we’re teaming up to spread the word about great work that supports women survivors of war around the world. We’re proud to say that two of our candle gifts make a charitable donation to their work. We’re also very excited that we are about to get started on some Women for Women tin candles that will be used as donor gifts!
Women for Women travel tin candle
We believe strongly that hand in hand we will be able to create tremendous impact for women around the world. We look forward to partnering with Women for Women into the future to create gifts that change women’s lives.
Global Sisters Candle Set - benefits Women for Women
