Invisible Children Mother's Day Campaign

I feel like when you have a blog, you have a voice. Whether my voice is big or small, I'd like to use it for a wonderful cause if you don't mind. I hope most of you have heard about Invisible Children. Two very sweet friends of mine, Tessa and Rachel, have been working hard with the Invisible Children campaign to bring awareness to the local and national community. When I bought a Christmas card that was hand-drawn by one of these children and made a donation to support the cause, I realized I needed to do some research to see where my support was going. Just recently, my husband had me watch this video on YouTube, and we decided that when the time comes for us to be able to spread our wealth, this is where it's going.

From the website:

INVISIBLE CHILDREN USES FILM, CREATIVITY AND SOCIAL ACTION TO END THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS IN JOSEPH KONY'S REBEL WAR AND RESTORE LRA-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA TO PEACE AND PROSPERITY.

Mend Seamstresses: A social enterprise geared toward facilitating financial independence and development for women formerly abducted by the LRA. The program currently supports 22 seamstresses who use their tailoring skills to create unique, high-quality handbags. Each Mend product carries the name of the seamstress who made it and seams a personal connection between the products, their makers, and consumers.
- Invisible Children

Here is Betty, one of the Invisible Children seamstresses, with her children.

I was contacted by one of the marketing interns with Invisible Children and was asked if I could share the Mother's Day campaign, which was launched on April 20. Here's what she had to share: "Since we feel that mothers are the greatest teachers of all, we thought we would honor them by having 100% of net proceeds from specified products and donations go toward our Legacy Scholarship Program {enrolled: 250 university students and 700 secondary students}.

"We believe that knowledge is power and education is the primary way to overcome the effects of this war, and this scholarship program allows hundreds of northern Ugandan students to access secondary education, which would be virtually inaccessible otherwise. All purchases in our Mother’s Day section will come with a limited edition Mother’s Day card which explains the programs, and also features a LSP scholar.

We have three products for sale – Two Mend tote bags ($65 and $75), and the Rose Gold bracelet ($95-pictured below). Mend is a Uganda-based enterprise which employs women affected by the LRA and gives them an opportunity for financial independence, education, and development. Buyers are also able to register their bags online to receive quarterly updates about the seamstress who made that particular bag.

In addition, we also have the option of $25 and $50 donations on behalf of mothers."

- Invisible Children

There are people like me who don't have money to give, but can share this information. If you are unable to donate or purchase one of these beautiful items, please pass the word along. We are only as big as the voices we have and the causes we support.