Community Care in Action

For more than fifteen years our Community Donations program has been partnering with grassroots organizations across North America working in the areas of human rights, animal protection and environmental justice because we believe in mutual aid—not acts of charity. Rooted in community care, the Community Donations program originated as a grassroots effort to support communities in which we live and work, while also caring for the environment by diverting our products from waste streams.

While we can get a little excited about people’s appetite for our new creations, we adhere closely to our guidelines, which ensures that the products in our shops are the freshest possible products available. Products that don’t make it onto our shelves, but are still fresh, are donated through Community Donations.

We prioritize organizations and efforts that challenge mainstream opinion through public engagement and hold governments accountable. We support nonviolent direct action because we feel it plays an important part in bringing about social change. Nonviolent direct action includes protests, demonstrations and other nonviolent interventions. We also partner with organizations that are far-reaching rather than ones that benefit just a few individuals. We also look for projects that promote and implement viable, fair and sustainable solutions.

We respectfully work with historically marginalized and underserved communities, prioritizing requests for individuals who may not otherwise have access to wellness items. This includes Indigenous-led and community-led groups that are registered or unregistered organizations or non-profits.

We fulfill an average of 400+ requests a year (that’s just over a request a day!), some of them as small as a box and others as large as seven full pallets!

To date (fall 2024), we have fulfilled nearly 5,500 community requests, diverting 3.8M items from ending up unused and in waste streams.

Our current program works with existing partners to support community needs close to our production factories and priority communities. Here are a few:

Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines (ASAP) is a small grassroots collective of Anishinaabe land defenders which uses nonviolent direct action and education to raise awareness about environmental injustice. Their work connects Indigenous frontline struggles with wider environmental protection campaigns.

TransGNB/CITG is an organization that works to promote and defend human rights and access to comprehensive health care for TransGNB, QBIPOC and Sex Workers. They do this by strengthening the social and cultural expression of diverse gender and gender expansive, and intersex communities in New York City.

Refugee Village/Building Bridges is an organization serving refugee families in Stone Mountain and Clarkston and immigrant families on the Tijuana/California border as well as advocating for human rights for refugees and immigrants. They do this by providing academic support, mentoring and literacy, as well as a space for traditional, cultural, and artistic expression. 

Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society of British Columbia is a peaceful, grassroots organization committed to the abolition of vivisection on moral, ethical and scientific grounds. Their work is informing the public of the grim realities faced by animals used in experiments, promoting the use of superior and more humane non-animal alternatives. Drawing attention to the proven invalidity of basing human medicine and toxicology on other species.

Since our first donation in 2007 to A Loving Spoonful, a volunteer-driven organization providing free, nutritious meals to people living with HIV and co-existing illness in Metro Vancouver and the surrounding areas, we have stayed true to our mission to support communities often overlooked by others. We give priority to less popular issues where it’s often more difficult to raise funds or gain support.