Since 2016. Bombay Taxi Boutique has donated 10% of its revenue to charity.
The charities change each quarter, and if I’m being honest, I don’t plan them out too far in advance. I hadn’t really picked a charity for Q1 until the pandemic hit and businesses started to close, and people were out of work. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank (a past recipient) stepped into overdrive and really stepped up to meet the unprecedented need in the community. Unfortunately, as this pandemic rages on, the need remains high, and The Greater Cleveland Food Bank continues to deliver on its promise to feed Northeast Ohio.
Throughout Northeast Ohio, one in six people is food insecure – meaning they may not know where their next meal will come from. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank seeks to bridge the meal gap, connecting individuals with the nutritious meals they need to succeed.
The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in Northeast Ohio having served more than 350,000 people in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Ashland, and Richland counties in 2019.
In late May, George Floyd was brutally murdered, and our collective 2020 racial awakening was underway. At that point, I decided that the remainder of 2020’s donations would be focused on charities that were either entirely focused on the Black community, or served the Black community as the majority of its work.
Our Q2 charity was Limitless Ambition. I’ve been a recurring donor ever since I heard Founder and Executive Director, Alicia Robinson, speak at an event. She really opened my eyes to the fact that things I took for granted growing up - the belief that I could be anything if I just put my mind to it - were not the reality for a number of young, Black women in her community. And it was simply because they either lacked exposure or support systems that could make them see their potential and live up to it.
Limitless Ambition, Inc. is an enthusiastic nonprofit looking for young women who may not know how to achieve their goals. We're staffed by hardworking, sincere women who have seen how important these support structures are.
Our mission is to educate, motivate and inspire women to dream without limits by supplying them with academic guidance, career coaching, and emotional support through mentorship programs, online initiatives, and resources.
Our vision is to be able to supply women all over the world with the tools they need to be effective leaders, businesswomen, and positive role models.
Our teen programs introduce the concepts of leadership and entrepreneurialism to girls with big ideas. We match young adults with professional mentors that know how to make an impact, and how to be a leader. We act with purpose, and it is our mission to teach other women to do the same.
In June 2020, Cleveland declared racism a public health crisis setting the stage for the city to tackle disparities in health outcomes for Black communities in Cleveland. But the issue is so much deeper and tied directly to systemic racism. Cleveland also has a documented history of police brutality, and all these factors led to Black Lives Matter Cleveland being our Q3 charity recipient.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
I have to thank my friend Jeff for introducing me to our Q4 recipient, Birthing Beautiful Communities.
The infant mortality rate has long been considered a summary measure of the health of a population. Although infant mortality has continually declined over the past century, the differential between infant mortality for babies born to White and Black mothers has been persistent, even growing at times in recent decades. African American mothers are dying at three to four times the rate of non-Hispanic white mothers, and infants born to African American mothers are dying at twice the rate as infants born to non-Hispanic white mothers. (source: Center for American Progress).
These stats are alarming and unacceptable, and this is where Birthing Beautiful Communities is making a difference in Northeast Ohio.
Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC) was established in 2014 with a mission to address and improve the systemic and community structures that lead to poor birth outcomes through culture, education, advocacy, support and engagement (CEASE). It holistically supports pregnant women to deliver full-term healthy babies, and in achieving equitable birth outcomes.
We provide free neighborhood-based services include childbirth and parenting education with workshops and classes on breastfeeding, stress relief, bonding with baby, co-parenting and healthy eating.
Embedded within BBC’s services are strategies to address the social determinants that impact infant mortality. These include education and engagement, and systems change (systemic racism, Medicaid coverage, maternity and family leave and comprehensive sex education). Since its founding, BBC has trained 26 perinatal support specialists and served over 500 women in total. Of those who completed all required Sisters Offering Support (SOS) Circle interventions, 92% had full term pregnancies last year, and an overall 99.8% infant survival rate. BBC receives funding from Ohio Department Medicaid and the Cleveland Foundation.
Thank you to everyone who has shopped the Bombay Taxi Boutique shop this year, and all our blog collaborators who have helped make all these donations to support these incredible organizations possible.
If you have recommendations for organizations to support in 2021, drop them in the comments!
