The Impact of Small Businesses on the Community: A Year in Review
As a small business we have struggled to know the appropriate balance of mentioning painful and politicized world events in the context of our online presence. As human beings behind our small business we have struggled to find the right words to express our condolences, heartache, and sorrow over the course of the year.
This year has seen a lot of pain and devastation globally with the war in Ukraine that is still ongoing, the thousands upon thousands of innocent lives lost in Israel and Gaza, and the deadly natural disasters made exponentially worse due to climate change. There has also been destruction and pain at home, with the continuation of lethal gun violence, the unprecedented flooding in Vermont, and the deadly wildfires in Hawaii.
As human beings we are effected by all of this and as a human and as a small business we want to help. Finding ways to help in a meaningful and authentic way can be difficult on both fronts.
With the end of the year approaching we wanted to take a moment to share how our small business is making an effort to support those in need as well as how we as human beings behind our small business are too.
As a small business, Copper Rabbit Crafts is and always has been dedicated to giving back to the community. We use the word community to mean both our local Maryland community as well as the global community we are a part of. To this end Copper Rabbit Crafts gives 5% from each and every purchase made to nonprofits who spend every day entrenched in finding useful and meaningful ways to positively impact the planet and its inhabitants.
There are six nonprofits that Copper Rabbit Crafts donates to. These nonprofits include:
· Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. At Copper Rabbit Crafts we enjoy being able to give back to the Arbor Day because the majority of our zero-waste packaging requires trees to make, in order to make it 100% recyclable. Supporting this NGO means helping keep our company sustainable through and through.
Bee Girl Organization
The Bee Girl Organization is a grassroots nonprofit centered on bee habit conservation through research, regeneration, & education. Organization founder, Sarah “Bee Girl” Red-Laird, leads a team to show kids, beekeepers, and farmers how to love their bees through classes, events, summer camps, and habitat projects.
The team engages with communities across the nation, and the globe, spreading knowledge and bringing a sense of wonder from the hive to the people. Helping protect the bees helps Copper Rabbit Crafts support the ecosystem needed to make our products. Without the bees we would not have the plants needed to make our soaps and bath products.
Breast Cancer Research Foundation
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is dedicated to ending breast cancer by advancing the world’s most promising research. This year, BCRF is the largest private funder of breast cancer research - and metastatic breast cancer research - worldwide and is the highest-rated breast cancer organization in the country. Breast Cancer impacts both women and men and is a global health concern. To support our community, Copper Rabbit Crafts gives back to BCRF.
Greater DC Diaper Bank
The Greater DC Diaper Bank (GDCDB) works to empower vulnerable families and individuals by providing an adequate and reliable source for basic baby needs and personal hygiene products across the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
GDCDB is one of the largest diaper banks in the country, distributing 9 million diapers a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of hygiene essentials and baby gear. Having basic hygiene products, such as soap, helps keep our communities healthier and safer. We believe that no one should have to decide between buying basic hygiene products and paying for rent.
Kids In Need Foundation
Kids In Need Foundation (KINF) believes every child in America deserves equal opportunity and access to a quality education. KINF partners with teachers in underserved schools to ensure students are prepared to learn in the classroom, providing essential school supplies and other badly needed resources.
Through its programs and National Network of Resource Centers, comprised of more than 40 mission-driven organizations across the U.S., KINF in 2021 supported over 7.8 million students and 316,900 teachers in 13,808 under-resourced schools. More than $162 million in free supplies and classroom resources was distributed nationwide at no cost to schools or teachers. Every community benefits when its children are given quality education and the tools to excel which is why Copper Rabbit Crafts supports KINF.
World Central Kitchen
World Central Kitchen is a nonprofit that provides food to those in need during crises. Founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises while working to build resilient food systems with locally led solutions. WCK has served more than 100 million fresh meals to people impacted by natural disasters and other crises around the world.
WCK’s Resilience Programs strengthen food and nutrition security by training chefs and school cooks; advancing clean cooking practices; and awarding grants to farms, fisheries, and small food businesses while also providing educational and networking opportunities. To make some of the essential oils needed for our soaps, such as lemons and oranges that are used to make our Citrus Goat’s Milk Soap Bars, we take away from what could have been turned into food. It is important to then give back when we can to help feed those who need food. This year WCK has provided meals to those in need nationally (Vermont and Hawaii for example) as well as globally (Ukraine and Gaza for example).
Copper Rabbit Crafts has been active this year volunteering in our local community of Maryland as well. With your help this year we have diverted over 1000 books from the landfill and donated them to the Maryland Book Bank. The Maryland Book Bank is an NGO dedicated to cultivating literacy in children from under-resourced neighborhoods.
We have also provided upcycled crayons to a local nursery school and collected over a dozen bags of trash from community walkways and parks. All of this in an effort to help those around us, keep the planet cleaner and healthier, and give back when we can.
Every product we bring to our small business is done so under the express goal of reducing waste and harmful chemicals. We have spent countless hours this year crafting recipes, packaging, and products that help achieve those goals.
On a personal side we have taken action in contacting local representatives in an effort to protect human life. Personally we have also donated to various charities both locally and nationally.
To some people this will not be enough. To others they will think it was. To me I am left feeling heartache for the countless innocent lives that could have been saved this year but weren’t for a myriad of reasons. I am left wondering how to best protect the planet from the overwhelming amount of pollution that is generated annually around the world.
It is extremely easy to become quickly overwhelmed with everything happening in the world right now, even locally right now. It is hard to know where to focus your energy, your money, your time. So as the year comes to a close and we look toward 2024, I wanted to send out a big thank you to every single human being who has cared this year.
If you took but a single moment this year to care about another person, animal, or planet. If you tried to learn about a topic you didn’t understand. If you tried to make the world a better place, even slightly. If you gave your time, your money, your energy, no matter the amount, duration, or size, thank you.
There is so much happening, so much pain and hurt right now out there in our world that any act of love, kindness, or desire for a more positive world is appreciated here. We are all trying to do our best in this crazy journey called life.
My wish for the new year is that we all try our best to make small positive changes in our lives and in the lives of others. As individuals and small businesses we cannot end wars or solve climate change. What we can do though is come together to make as many small positive changes as possible and those truly will add up.
From all of us at Copper Rabbit Crafts, we wish you a happy and healthy new year filled with love, kindness, and a desire to positively impact the world. Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to continuing to support you, our local community, and our global community.
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