we give books

We love to read. Lurve. We think reading is absolutely essential not only for a good education, but for a great imagination. Books teach, but they also transport and transform. This awesome organization has combined two of our favorite things - books and giving.

We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with internet access to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online. Read a book. Give a book. Here's how it works:

On the We Give Books website, choose the charity you want to support. These are great non-profit organizations serving young people across the globe. This month, for example, you can donate books to Read for Central America, Todos a Leer, Room to Read, and Out of the Blocks.

Then choose the books you want to read from the growing library of great children's books. All of the books available for online reading are children's picture books appropriate for children through age ten. There is a mix of fiction and nonfiction, a range of authors, and an equal balance between read-alouds and books for independent readers. They add new books every month, and have special seasonal offerings.

For each book you read online, We Give Books will donate a book to the literacy group you chose. You can also change the organization you want to support with each book, if you want. What a great tool for reading with your kids and for teaching them about charity at the same time!

The more you read, the more they give. It's that easy!

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welcome to goodiegoodie!

We are so excited to officially re-launch "allison's favorite give-ings" as...

Our mission remains the same...to make it easy to do good. We will suggest charities that we love, and we'll guide you to make ethical shopping choices. Our ultimate goal is to get you to make one donation in lieu of a gift or to buy one socially responsible product for someone in your life. Hopefully when you see how easy it is and the good that you can do, giving and shopping ethically will become a habit and, eventually, a passion. We're gonna' change what it means to be a goodiegoodie!

We also value discussion and suggestions, so if you have a charity or a brand that you love and want us to feature on goodiegoodie, we'd love to hear from you. There are a frillion ways to contact us, so go for it. And while you are at it, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates and share share share! Thank you! You're gorgeous! We love you!

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moral eyes

I learned about today's featured company from the fabulous website, Shop With Meaning. In the spirit of full disclosure I will tell you that I am the Social Media Manager for the aforementioned fabulous site. If you like my blog I promise that you will love Shop With Meaning site, too. But today, we are focusing on an awesome one for one eyewear company called Moral Eyes.

Moral Eyes believes that everyone has the right to see clearly. They sell awesome reading glasses and sunglasses, and for every pair that they sell they donate a pair of new reading glasses to someone in need. To do this, they've partnered with New Eyes for the Needy, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes glasses to those less fortunate. Now you get to look adorable, see better, and also transform lives. Win win win.

A little more about New Eyes for the Needy. They are a non-profit organization that has brought improved vision and hope for a better future to more than 7 million people in the US and around the world. If you don't need glasses but want to help improve the vision of a person in need, you can make a direct donation.

You can also help by recycling your old glasses! Between my husband and I, we must have a village's worth of old glasses taking up valuable drawer space. We should donate our old eyeglasses (in good condition) to New Eyes and they will send them to medical missions and international charitable organizations for distribution to the poor in developing nations. You can ship your old glasses directly to New Eyes, or, if you're in the NYC area, drop them off at one of their Recycling Collection Locations.

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one world flowers

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Again. If you know someone that would just love to get some flowers on this most useless and auspicious occasion, please send Fair Trade flowers. One World Flowers offers Fair Trade Certified™ flowers that contribute to the social and economic development of communities around the world. The Fair Trade Certified™ label on each of their bouquets is a guarantee that your purchase will help put nutritious food on people's tables, send their children to school, and help them to invest in community development.

I heart One World Flowers because they actually strive to educate consumers about Fair Trade practices and raise awareness of human rights violations that happen every day in the global supply chain. One World Flowers doesn't just want to sell flowers; they want to make a world of difference. What's more, select bouquets also generate a donation with your purchase. For example, 10% of the purchase price of the Helping Haiti coral rose bouquet will be donated to Samaritan's Purse relief efforts and sustainable development projects in Haiti. Now that's sweet.

Pssst - Use coupon code "FairTrade5" for $5 off fair trade Certified Roses! Happy Valentine's Day!

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