Tag Archives: charity

Celebrate your Inner Beauty by Giving Back

When we all work together, give what we can and look out for one another; it’s amazing just how quickly the world becomes a better place for the next generation. In the spirit of giving back, Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company is getting ready to donate a total of $2 Million to causes surrounding health, home and hunger through a corporate giving campaign known as Band Together. The nonprofits benefiting include St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Habitat for Humanity and Feeding America.

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Through this unique corporate giving campaign, you’ll get to decide how this record-breaking donation will be broken up by voting for the cause of your choice. Voting will be open from July 11, 2016 at 11am CT to July 31, 2016 at 11pm CT. Jewelers Mutual with be writing a check for $1 Million to the charity with most votes. $700,000 will go to the second place winner and $300,000 will be donated to the third-place winner. You’ll be entered for a chance to win weekly jewelry prizes from STACKED New York every time you cast your vote. The lucky winners will each get a set of 3 stacking bands ($450 retail value). Cast your vote here.

Hint: Vote everyday for more chances to win!

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Giving Back

While most of us probably don’t have $2 Million to donate, we can all make a huge difference in our communities and in the lives of those in need. It doesn’t take a lot of time, money or effort to really make an impact. A couple years ago, my friend Lara, founder of the beauty blog Pretty Connected, started a charity where bloggers, editors, PR agencies, makeup brands or anyone could donate unopened excess beauty products to women living in NYC’s shelters and teenage girls in foster care.

Corporate Giving

Us beauty and fashion bloggers are always getting makeup sent to us or getting samples at events. While some of it we use, it’s often impossible to use all of it before it expires and not everything you get is right for your skin or hair type. But why let it go to waste when someone else could really use it? With that question in mind, Lara brought the fashion and beauty community together. Throughout the years, we’ve pooled our excess beauty products and donated them to women in need. Since we get more products for free than we can use, this is program that costs us no money, but makes a huge difference in the lives of local women.

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New beauty products bring women confidence and it makes those in need happy to know that someone is thinking of them. I’m so honored to have had the opportunity to participate in this program time and time again. I even have a special spot in my closet where I keep my extra beauty products for donation. It’s great to have friends that inspire you to make your community a better place.

If you’re interested in doing some philanthropy work of your own, I would suggest finding something that aligns with your interests and finding a friend to get involved with you. Even if an opportunity to give back doesn’t seen to align with your interests right away, I would still suggest giving it a chance because nothing makes you feel better than giving back to someone else. Doing charity work with a friend can make it less intimidating to volunteer at a new place and keep you from canceling because no one wants to cancel on a friend. If you’re not sure where to start local food banks, hospitals and nursing homes are almost always looking for new volunteers.

As you embark on your journey to make the world a better place, don’t forget to get involved in Jewelers Mutual’s Band Together campaign by casting your vote!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Share Your Beauty Mother’s Day Charity Drive

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Last week, Pretty Connected came together with Family-to-Family for a Mother’s Day beauty drive where bloggers, editors, and brands could donate their excess beauty products to women in need just in time for Mother’s Day. The launch of Share Your Beauty took place at the swanky Davio’s Modern Italian Restaurant on Lexington Ave and 45th Street. Over delicious food and drinks, we stuffed 100 bags donated by LeSportsac with 100 Birchboxes and countless product donations. Each bag was paired with a personalized Mother’s Day message.

In addition to the 100 fabulous bags filled to the brim, over 35 boxes filled with beauty products were sent to the Shelter for Domestic Violence Survivors and Third Street Women’s Residence at Henry Street Settlement to be given out on Mother’s Day! It felt amazing to be part of such a wonderful group of women who are beautiful both inside and out. It means a lot to me to know that we made a different in the lives of women in need and showed them how much they are loved on Mother’s Day. Congratulation to my good friends Lara Eurdolian and Ashley Tschudin for making this possible.

For anyone interested in donating unused beauty products please contact ShareYourBeauty@Family-to-Family.org. Check out a full recap of the Share Your Beauty event on PrettyConnected.com.

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The Giving Keys

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I’ll never forget the feeling of hope and satisfaction I felt the day I picked up the keys to my first Manhattan apartment. So when I discovered The Giving Keys, a charitable organization that employs people transitioning out of homelessness and spreads messages of hope through meaningful accessories, I knew I had to share its message with others.  It all started when singer/songwriter, Caitlin Crosby, was wearing a key necklace in a hotel room in New York City.  It was then that she got the idea to start engraving used and recycled keys with inspirational messages and turning them into necklaces.  When Caitlin started selling them on tour, she found herself constantly scrambling to find used keys, chains, and clasps because they would always sell out.  While on stage, Caitlin would talk to the audience about embracing their flaws and soon realized that in a way, we’re all like keys in that we are each unique, yet flawed and awkward.  Seeing that the keys could be a source of hope and love, Caitlin began to encourage people to pay it forward by giving their keys to someone they felt needed the message engraved on it.  But, still something was missing.

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When Caitlin met Cera and Rob, a homeless couple, while walking down Hollywood Blvd, she found the missing link to The Giving Keys that made them mean so much more.  She took them to dinner that night and listened to their stories about having spent the majority of their lives on the streets.  The next day, she asked them to be her business partners.  She began meeting the couple on street corners and in alley ways giving them cash in exchange for bags of keys.  Soon Cera and Rob saved enough money to get their own apartment, Rob got his GED, and Cera got a job at the San Diego Zoo.  Both still work at The Giving Keys part-time.  As the business grew even more, Caitlin teamed up with United Way and PATH to help more people transitioning out of homelessness support themselves and find a permanent place to call home.

Every time I hear the story of how The Giving Keys came to be, I get tears in my eyes.  Accessories often hold deeper meanings and these keys are the epitome of this concept.  I encourage anyone looking for a meaningful gift for someone in need of inspiration to order a Giving Key engraved with a message of courage and strength.  Once they have taken in the message, they can pass the key along to someone else in need of the same inspiration.  All are encouraged to share their stories on The Giving Keys website in order to further inspire others.

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A Diamond in the Rough

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Over the weekend, I spent my Saturday afternoon volunteering at The Meatloaf Kitchen, a soup kitchen that serves fresh wholesome meals restaurant style to New Yorkers down on their luck.  It’s truly an amazing program and a much-needed addition to this city.  When I tweeted that I was spending the morning volunteering, I was very touched to see my Twitter blowing up with messages of how giving back made me a true socialite.  However, I think that I may have gotten more out of it than the people I helped while handing out clothes in the Meatloaf Boutique.

In the process of being one of the Meatloaf Kitchen’s resident stylists for the day, I came across these vintage Alexander McQueen flats and couldn’t help, but snap a picture.  I wonder if they were designed by McQueen himself when he was still alive.  Having been incredibly touched by my experience volunteering, I plan on going back once a month.

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CFDA/Stylitics Dream Closet Benefiting Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Begins Today!

Beginning today (Dec. 3rd), Stylitics, the leading virtual closet platform on the web, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) are teaming up to raise money for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.  Along with supporting an amazing cause, they are also giving away a Dream Closet filled with top of the line designer handbags, business attire, workout gear, accessories, jeans, jewelry, and more.  Over 40 top brands are represented in the Dream Closet including Diane Von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, Theyskens’ Theory, Helmut Lang, Alexander Wang, Thakoon, Rebecca Minkoff, House of Harlow, Topshop, and many more.  The closet is showcased on the Stylitics website and is completely browseable and shoppable through most of the month of December.  The winner will be chosen at random from eligible entries on December 24th.

Dying to support a good cause and a win a new wardrobe just in time for the new year?  You can enter by purchasing a Fashion Targets Breast Cancer t-shirt for $34.99 with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer Foundation.  You can also enter to win the closet of every socialite’s dream for free by clicking here.  Best of luck and thanks for supporting such a great cause.  Check out the many outfits you could win: