 One of the ways Reach And Teach works to support causes we believe in is through our 10/10 program. In our work with non-profits over the years, we discovered many wonderful books, DVDs, curriculum, and other products that had been produced for a campaign, only to later have the remainders gathering dust in some dark closet. Why? Most organizations are not set up to take product orders, handle fulfillment, and manage the books for selling things. There are also some for-profit social enterprises that are well set up for in-person or event sales, but don't have the infrastructure to sell online.
We saw this "problem" as an opportunity, so we set up our 10/10 program. Through that program we take a certain amount of stock from organizations on products they'd like to sell, and we sell them through our web store. The cost? Simple - 10%. We only take 10% of the purchase price to help cover our transaction fee costs and our labor for fulfillment and book-keeping. AND, if someone buys any other Reach And Teach product while they happen to be buying a 10/10 item, we donate 10% of the rest of the transaction to that organization! Thus the 10/10. Our most recent addition to the 10/10 program is Shea Butter Market! This is a social enterprise dedicated to helping people in Africa who grow, harvest, and prepare "Shea Butter" from the fruit trees that grow in their communities. This is then turned into various cosmetic products and sold around the world. 
Shea Butter Market, located in Canada, found out that Rachel Rae was going to be featuring Shea Butter products in her magazine and on her TV show. The problem? They had no United States distribution outlet! Problem? No! Opportunity! We found out about that opportunity through our colleague, Jeff Chow, a financial advisor who works with a lot of organizations and is terrific at networking people together when he spots some synergy in what they are working on. In fact, we met Jeff at a gathering called "Synergos," which our friends at the Hayden Group (the folks responsible for the marketing "facelift" Reach And Teach got about a year ago - nice look, don't you think??) hosts every month. We get to meet a lot of people at these events, and learn about the great work they are doing in the world, and every once in a while, synergy happens! So it was when Jeff heard about Shea Butter Market's "problem." He got right on the phone with us and a week later, the problem turned into an opportunity, for us to help widows in Africa! 
Production of Shea Butter products directly helps people living in the village of Tapko in Ghana. Tapko is a small village located near the Burkina Faso border, just northwest of Wa, in Ghana's Upper West Region. Life is very difficult for village residents. During the dry season, the hot dry Harmattan winds blow down from the Saraha. There is little cash economy and villagers must grow and harvest enough food and supplies during the rainy season to last them through the long hot dry season. This is hard for everyone, but especially difficult for women whose husband's have died and who still have young children. In Tapko Village a group of these women recognized that by working together they would be better able to support their children and families. They formed the Tapko Widow's Group and set out to identify opportunities to earn income to support their subsistence agriculture activities. With assistance from a Peace Corp volunteer, who used to stay with ifty Serbeh-Dunn's family (Gifty is the founder of Shea Butter Market) in Wa about 20 years ago, a small micro-credit program was established. The group now has about 70 members. Today, by having Shea Butter Market join our 10/10 program, Reach And Teach offers Shea Butter products through our web store. Our hope is that soon, after folks like Rachel Rae help spread the news about Shea Butter, the folks in Canada will find large distributors in the United States, the EU, and Asia for these great products.We only offer a few of the products created from this amazing butter. Click here to visit Shea Butter Market's web site where you can learn more about the work being done and the other products being produced. All we hope to do is help plant the seed, so that in time, the families in Africa will be able to dramatically improve their lives sustainably harvesting and producing a product that people across the planet want to use. Now that you know a little bit about Shea Butter Market, why not visit their page on our web site and some of the other wonderful 10/10 partners we've signed up so far! |
