The holiday season is the perfect time to give back. And, with opportunities to buy, give, and volunteer, Small Forces partners provide the perfect way to do just that. Read on to learn more about what giving opportunities our Small Forces partners are offering this season.

 

Buy for a brighter future

Curt’s Café

Curt’s Café is all about dining with a purpose. That’s why this Small Forces partner trains highly at-risk young adults to be successful in the workforce and beyond. You can stay warm this holiday season with hot coffee and delicious meals served by Curt’s Café students at two Chicagoland locations.  Or, for your next holiday gathering, spread the love by catering with Curt’s! The non-profit also offers treat-filled gift boxes, which are a meaningful gift for anyone on your list.

Feed your loved ones with a purpose

 

Giving Rocks

Giving Rocks raises money for LCH pediatric cancer research through the sale of beautiful necklaces made from rocks found right on the shores of Lake Michigan. These necklaces make a great giftand even if you aren’t shopping for the jewelry type, Giving Rocks sells apparel and holiday rock ornaments!  100 percent of proceeds will go toward funding research, making this a great way to spread joy this holiday season while also spreading hope for the future.

Shop the collection

 

The Floured Apron

The Floured Apron teaches professional cooking and baking skills to women in underserved communities in order to help them secure a sustainable culinary career and create a better life for themselves. This holiday season, The Floured Apron has cooked up something special: You can order any of their traditional cakes and cookies, plus their new chocolate bark and granola. Show your loved ones you care by gifting them something tasty…all while directly supporting the women in The Floured Apron’s life-changing program.

Find something sweet to eat

 

Parents for Peace  & Justice

Parents for Peace & Justice hopes to spread some hope to grieving families this holiday season. You can help by purchasing tickets to Mikey O’s Jingle Jam, the Chicago holiday extravaganza and music fest you don’t want to miss. The Jingle Jam will take place in Chicago on Saturday, December 9th 2018, and features all-day music and comedy to benefit families grieving from gun violence.

Spread hope

 

Donate and help create

The Viola Project

This Small Forces partner empowers girls from diverse backgrounds to stand up for their ideas and increase agency. This holiday season, your donation to The Viola Project will help girls grow using the powerful words of Shakespeareregardless of their financial backgrounds. By donating, you can help The Viola Project inspire girls to do what they want in life. Hear more Viola Project stories on their Facebook page as the organization mounts its own Giving Tuesday campaign, or donate via The Viola Project website.

Help empower young girls

 

Harmony, Hope & Healing

This organization helps homeless Chicagoans make a joyful noise all year round. By providing vulnerable families and individuals with the ability to heal through the restorative power of music, Harmony, Hope & Healing has changed lives for over 15 years. Now, Harmony, Hope & Healing needs your help to get their students to rehearsal. Donate to their #ILGive campaign this Giving Tuesday, and you’ll empower students to heal by funding their rehearsal transit costs.

Don’t let transportation be a barrier to healing

Exodus World Service

Support this Small Forces partner as they mount a Giving Tuesday campaign to raise funds for refugee families rebuilding their lives in our communities. This year’s gifts will help provide Infant Care Packs of baby supplies to refugee families with infants, giving bundles of joy to bundles of joy! This is a great way to share the holiday spirit with our refugee neighbors.

Donate now

 

We are so proud to announce that at the recently concluded 9th Annual Shorty Awards which took place in New York City, Small Forces came out as a finalist in the “Best Work for Developing Nations” category of the Shorty Social Good Award.

The Shorty Awards annually honor the best of social media by recognizing influencers, brands and organizations making an impact especially through social media and other platforms. The “Best Work for Developing Nations” category of the Shorty Social Good Award honors a program or project that supports developing nations by providing them with resources.

Our submission was a short documentary video that highlighted Kay Lasante, a health clinic and community outreach project that is based in Haiti. The clinic, whose name translates to “House of Health” in Haitian Creole, provides health services to Haitians free-of-charge in order to ensure that those who are in dire need of health-care and medical assistance would not be hindered at all by any financial costs. The video has helped to raise awareness as well as funds for Kay Lasante and the amazing work that they are doing.

It was such a tremendous honor for Small Forces to be recognized as a finalist in this award amongst great organizations such as Partners in Health, The Peace Corps, Unicef, Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy, and Beyonce’s nonprofit BeyGood4Burundi.

We are excited to add this to our bank of achievements as we continue to press on in excellence and service! 

For more information about Kay Lasante, click here.

Watch the story:

The Music Box Theatre, one of Chicago’s oldest independent film venues, will screen the Small Forces film A Welcome Connection before each screening of Ai Weiwei’s new documentary Human Flow

Our film highlights the work of local organization Exodus World Service. Exodus connects Chicagoans with arriving and newly-resettled refugees in our community. Exodus volunteers welcome refugees and help them adjust to life in America.

The journey to resettlement is very long for most refugees. Ai Weiei’s film shows the worldwide refugee crisis – and what many of our new neighbors have experienced before arriving in Chicago. 

We’re grateful to have the venue to spread the word about how Chicagoans can get involved with a local organization serving refugees.