Donating to COVID-19 Relief, Local and Nationwide
Last year, COVID-19 struck the United States. People all over the world were suddenly asked to wear face masks in public. We watched our neighbors, friends, and family scavenging the internet for comfortable face masks right when they fell in short supply due to increased demand...and we wanted to help.
We began producing face masks with our safety-tested bandana bib fabric and committed 10% of proceeds to COVID-19 aid organizations local and nationwide. The response to our face masks has been overwhelmingly wonderful, and enabled us to support a number of incredible organizations doing the difficult work of fighting this vaccine-less pandemic. So - what organizations have our customers enabled us to support so far this year?
Federal relief for families affected by all the madness of 2020 has been cut, so we're stepping in where we can. we sent relief donations to Seattle Foundation, whose COVID-19 Response Fund deploys resources to organizations supporting local workers and families most impacted by the coronavirus crisis, and we've doubled and tripled down on The Conscious Kid's COVID-19 Rent Relief Fund for Families. If it's within your means, we encourage you to join us.
And now, the evictions are here. To keep as many people and families housed and safe as we can, BooginHead commits an ongoing portion of our donations from 10% Masks proceeds to rent and community relief funds, local and nationwide. Families' essential needs must be met. They need food, diapers, and housing. We've donated to the Issaquah Food Bank, Washington's Eastside Baby Corner, United Way King County, Unicef USA, and the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition.
Local Coronavirus Support
Babies of Homelessness, HQ'd in our nearby Bothell, Washington, is an excellent example of direct action at work. This volunteer network gives their phone number to first responders and other social support agencies and operates a 24/7 phone line to assess needs and deliver supplies to families. Speed is the name of their game - without long waitlists or referral processes they're able to get help to families in need within 72 hours. They've seen a 6x increase in need for services since the pandemic struck. Without federal support or eviction moratoriums, families with babies and children are being thrown out of their homes and onto the streets with winter about to strike. Speed is what we need. Thank you, Babies of Homelessness.
Eastside Baby Corner provides essential care, safety, and health goods to babies and families in need. EBC and its partners provide kids with shoes, diapers, formula, blankets, coats and much more. In the EBC partner network are over 50 health and human service organizations, schools, early learning centers and food banks. Eastside Baby Corner has always done an incredible job taking care of our local community, and we know the demand for their services will only increase as the year goes on and evictions continue. Their donation page allows you to allocate your donation to COVID-19. Thank you, Eastside Baby Corner.
United Way is an incredible organization where 95% of every dollar donated goes to community relief. Besides having a solid response and plan of action to address racial inequity in BooginHead's home county, they have segmented their donation portal so that you can donate directly to rental assistance. We're proud to support you, United Way. Keep doing good work.
Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank is BooginHead's local food bank, and it's actually within walking distance from our store on Front Street. With the onset of coronavirus and the economic shutdown to slow its spread, Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank saw a drastic uptick in requests for services. They provide clothes, job resources, emergency relief, and household items to struggling families all over the Eastside (which is what we Washingtonians call the other side of Lake Washington, before you cross over the Cascades). Thank you for all you do, Issaquah Food Bank.
Organizers in any movement know that direct action and direct support is the most effective method of alleviating suffering in a community. Issaquah Community Services takes donations and gives them directly to families critically impacted by the economic fallout of coronavirus lockdown - missed mortgage payments, missed rent, utilities shutoffs, and more. 100% of donations make it into the hands of people who have lost everything in our own community, and that's the kind of direct action that makes a difference. Thank you, Issaquah Community Services.
Award-winning for its accomplishments and rated four out of four stars on Charity Navigator, Seattle Foundation collaborates with hundreds of nonprofits to develop local giving strategies designed to make the greatest impact, and they access a network of more than 700 community foundations to support giving outside the local region. Seattle Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund deploys resources to organizations supporting local workers and families most impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
Our headquarters are in Issaquah, which is 30 minutes east of Seattle. Seattle is such a beautiful, vibrant city, but like any city, it has a significant homeless population who need resources and support. YouthCare works to end youth homelessness in Seattle and to ensure that young people are valued for who they are and empowered to achieve their potential. When coronavirus hit, homeless people everywhere were at immediate increased risk of infection and withdrawal of critical resources as cities redirected finances and attention to health systems and lockdown protocols. Women entrepreneurs from 16 Seattle businesses, organized and spearheaded by Gourmondo, joined forces to support YouthCare and keep vulnerable youth well-fed and cared for during lockdown. Our founder and CEO Sari Davidson answered the call, and we were proud to be a part of this vital initiative for our homeless youth in the city we love. Thank you, Gourmondo, for organizing!
Check out GourmondoCo.com to learn more about this incredible woman-owned small business in Seattle.
Nationwide and International Coronavirus Support
One community that has been hit unbelievably hard by the pandemic is Indigenous Nations. We donated to the Official Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund, which is also accepting non-monetary donations, if you are not in a position to provide financial support to coronavirus relief. There is a lot more that needs to be done, and rectified, for our Indigenous brothers and sisters. We will find more ways to show up.
The Conscious Kid is an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth. They support organizations, families, and educators in taking action to disrupt racism in young children. The Conscious Kid also happens to have one of the most robust and effective direct action campaigns curing the time of COVID; a rent relief fundraiser that has given directly almost $1 million in rent relief to families in peril. We've been donating monthly. Follow their incredible Instagram account, and not just for their IG Stories where they post receipts of direct aid donations for accountability. Follow for their incredible depth of knowledge and accessible learning style in crafting a better, more equitable world. Thank you, The Conscious Kid.
Like Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee, UNICEF is fighting COVID-19 on the international front lines. Even before the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a global health emergency, UNICEF had rushed six metric tons of medical supplies to the front lines. To date, UNICEF has delivered tens of millions of protective items for health workers, medical equipment and hygiene supplies. They are committed to giving children the support and community they need to cope with Coronavirus.
Black Trans lives matter. And among their many intersectional oppressions, Black Trans people suffer record levels of homelessness. The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition's COVID-19 Community Response Fund provides the transgender community rapid response funds for emergency food, shelter, utilities, transportation and health care, also free care packages that include life saving PPE, personal hygiene supplies, and referral to resources for a most vulnerable population at their point of need during the coronavirus pandemic. We are proud to support Black Trans lives, now and forever.
Save the Children is a global charity - it was the world's FIRST global charity for children, founded in 1919. Charity watchdog organizations, publishers, and consumer advocates consistently rate it among the most effective, transparent, and honest charities in the world. Save the Children works to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in more than 120 countries worldwide including the United States, and their emergency measures to fight coronavirus include helping children out of unsafe households, protecting and preparing doctors and health clinics in refugee camps, and supporting long distance learning in the face of school closures. Save the Children makes the painful point that coronavirus has left many children without caregivers, out of school, and exposed to violence and exploitation. We can't think of a better place for a family-focused brand like BooginHead to put its support.
Another global charity, International Rescue Committee is responding around the clock in over 40 countries to prevent further spread of coronavirus. In Seattle, the IRC provides opportunities for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other immigrants to thrive in America. IRC has launched coronavirus preparedness and response programs in over 40 countries, including the United States, Greece, Syria, and Yemen. The United States is trying to reopen after coronavirus lockdown, and that means reopening airports, tourist destinations, and hopefully, refugee resettlement programs. Coronavirus fought anywhere in the world is coronavirus fought on American soil. We are proud to support IRC's crucial work.
Thank you!
Thank you to our incredible customers. Your support of a small, woman-owned business allows us to support the people and organizations on the ground who can fight the coronavirus pandemic. We appreciate you so very much.
Be sure to check the BooginHead Blog monthly for updates on our coronavirus philanthropy to see where the 10% of face masks proceeds are going! If you know of an organization worth supporting, please message us on Facebook, Instagram, or email us at info@booginhead.com. We'd love to know what's important to you, and explore where it could fit in our contributions this year.
*Updated on August 12 2021
