Philanthropy

Children Incorporated – Appalachian Division

Go GaGa’s connection with mountain families stems from founder Jill Cartwright’s experiences in volunteering at a hospital in western Virginia. During that time, many of the patients she met were children from impoverished areas of Appalachia who were suffering from malnourishment, exposure and lack of medical care. That experience left a huge impression on Jill, who decided to support these communities with the launch of Go GaGa. Rather than develop her own outreach program, Jill sought to work with an existing non-profit that was well-established within Appalachia, and she found the ideal partner in Children, Incorporated. Children, Incorporated works with schools and local organizations to get clothing, food, and funds directly into the hands of the families who need them most.

In talking with their Appalachian Division, Jill learned that winter poses the greatest challenges for families in the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky. The extreme winter weather conditions cripple school districts, shut down roads, and create a situation that only intensifies the daily struggle for many families. The hardships of fuel bills, random power outages, frozen water pipes, house fires caused by woodstoves, not being able to get food because of impassable roads, and keeping the children warm enough are just a few of the challenges facing Appalachian families living in poverty. Go GaGa is helping to ease that burden by sponsoring events and winter clothing drives in Boston to collect supplies that will be delivered directly to children in the neediest schools in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Click here to learn more about Children, Incorporated.

Click here to learn more about the Appalachian Division.

International

The Porter Project

Porters are remarkable people who enable thousands of adventurists to climb some of the world’s most impressive peaks by carrying the climbers’ gear up mountainsides under treacherous conditions while wearing threadbare clothing and discarded shoes. Since porters are paid based on the weight they carry, many of them scale the Himalayas toting more than their own body weight. Because of the treacherous climbing conditions, porters must be able to drop their pack immediately in order to save themselves if they lose their footing. As a result, these 100 pound plus packs aren’t carried in backpacks or hauled behind the porters – instead, the porters carry them by a thin nylon strap that’s spread across their forehead. As you can imagine, this creates countless physical problems for the porters over time, but this is one of a few means of supporting themselves and their families, so the porters do their work with enthusiasm and pride.

We’re passionate that our ability to enjoy some of the world’s most challenging mountain ranges shouldn’t come at the expense of the porters’ health or safety, so we’ve teamed up with the Mountain Fund to provide porters in Nepal with our stretchable straps to reduce the damage to their foreheads as well as donate 5% of profits from the sale of our straps to build medical clinics and schools in the mountain communities where the porters and their families live.

Click here to learn more about The Mountain Fund.

The Maheela Project

The images of smiling Nepali women and girls we’d seen in travel magazines and documentaries had lured us into thinking that life for these women was relatively carefree. But after learning about the abuse, illiteracy and lack of rights that these women and girls suffer, we felt compelled to get involved with a program that not only gave them a means to support themselves, but also fueled their self-esteem.

The Maheela Project was established in 2000 by the Women’s Foundation of Nepal and is a remarkable example of their model for empowering women through development, not donations. Based in Rasuwa, Nepal, the Maheela Project offers women the training, materials and workspace they need to weave silk textiles while their children receive care and medical attention in an onsite daycare. The scarves, home textiles and other items that these women produce are sold in a local store as well as through organizations around the world, with each woman receiving 20% of the revenue for the scarves she creates. This income is vital, especially for women who are widowed or divorced and have no other means of supporting herself and her children. Go GaGa is helping to provide another market for The Maheela Project’s textiles by selling their handmade silk scarves at events and online each spring.

Click here to learn more about the Maheela Project.