Another Giveaway at Barefoot Mommies

We are sponsoring another giveaway over at Amanda's blog, Barefoot Mommies. We are giving away two of our bracelets: a pop top bracelet and our triangular solid wood bracelet. See below for photos.



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This giveaway ends on March 25th, so only two more days to enter!

Crossroads Fund 2010 Annual Benefit

Crossroads Fund is hosting its Annual Seeds of Change Benefit on April 16, 2010 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Again, five ACCESSORIES was privileged to be asked to donate an item for the Seeds of Change silent auction. Item to be determined.



About Crossroads

"Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of social and economic justice in the Chicago area. A public foundation, Crossroads Fund pools the resources of individuals, foundations and businesses, building a broad base of support for grassroots organizations for social change.

Crossroads Fund belongs to a network of regionally-based social change foundations called the Funding Exchange (FEX). The Funding Exchange includes 16 funds serving 26 states and most of the country’s large metropolitan areas. For more information, see www.fex.org."

For more information visit www.CrossRoadsFund.org

New Retail Location - Proud Fox Gallery

We are excited to announce that our Bali Bamboo Collection is now available at the Proud Fox Gallery located at 213 W State Street Geneva, IL 60134 Ph: 630-262-8797.

Chicago One Step Closer to Becoming a "Fair Trade City"

It is exciting when whole cities take on the challenge to become known as a fair trade city. Chicago is one of those cities who has recently been working towards their fair trade goals. Last month, Chicago's city council voted to pass the Fair Trade resolution! That is an incredible step forward and one step closer to making Chicago a "Fair Trade City".

Here are just a few things that were on the agenda, as stated on ChicagoFairTrade.org :

• City Council Resolution
• Fair Trade available in local shops
• Fair Trade at work places, schools, faith communities and community organizations
• Media attention
• Formation of local fair trade steering group
  

To read more, please visit http://www.chicagofairtrade.org/

Trunk Show 3/6 in Geneva, IL

This coming Saturday, March 6th we are hosting a Trunk Show at Proud Fox Gallery located at 213 W State Street Geneva, IL 60134. Phone: 630-262-8797. The event will be from 11am to 3pm. We will be featuring our 'bling' jeweled bamboo collection as shown in picture above and below. These handbags were handcrafted in Bali for five ACCESSORIES by local artisans with the purpose of supporting participatory workplaces, providing fair wages and ensuring environmental sustainability:

Kids with a Heart - Fifth Grader Helps Uganda

It is always heartwarming to read about stories of children coming up with creative ideas to help raise money for a good cause. Such is the case with a Chicago area fifth grader who is helping Uganda.

Photo from Chicago Tribune Local by BethPreis

"It really bothers Wescott School fifth grader Liat Wasserman that American children have so many electronic devices, when most Ugandan children don't even have enough to eat. So she decided to do something about it. She began decorating canvas bags with messages such as, 'Together We Can Make Things Happen' and 'Stop the Hunger' and has been selling them to friends, family and teachers that she knows. She plans to send the profits to a Ugandan organization that supports children."

Read the full story at Chicago Triblocal for Northbrook...

It is important to teach our children the values of being compassionate and wisely supporting individuals in need. Usually this is taught by example, but sometimes children can surprise us with their own tenderness towards those who have less than the average American kid.

Hats off to this young ladey, great work, Liat!

five ACCESSORIES Giveaway Over at Sweeps4Bloggers.com

Thanks to Valerie, over at Sweeps4Bloggers.com, we currently have a giveaway of our oversized wood cuff and our dark wood triangle bracelet. The giveaway is running thru 3/4, so if you'd like to enter head on over to Sweeps4Bloggers.com at the following link:

http://sweeps4bloggers.com/?p=1837

Off the Street Picture Frame Being Sold in Beck's Bookstore

Our Off the Street picture frames are now available at Beck's Bookstore at 50 E Chicago.


These frames are made from Chicago recycled material such as transit cards and ticket stubs made by local folks who have been formerly homeless.

Please consider our Recycled Picture Frame for your upcoming events. Through our income generating program we have been able to employ five StreetWise Vendors in 2009.

If you have an interest in this product for fundraising events, weddings or coporate gives, let us know if you would like to customize the triangle piece. We did this for a large corporate order at Christmas time.

All frames have the picture, signature and location where the StreetWise vendor (aka. artist) sells their newspaper.

Donating to local Elementry Schools

Helping schoolchildren has always been at the heart of five ACCESSORIES. Recently, we donated a gift certificate to support an elementry school in the Lakeview, Chicago area. Blaine Elementry raised over $250,000 and we were happy to help.

Supporting Climate Cycle 100

five ACCESSORIES was happy to donate items such as our Brown Coconut Clutch to raise money for Chicago's Climate Cycle 100 being held February 5th at the Peggy Notebaert Museum.

Key Climate Cycle Supporters were recognized such as Eileen Sweeney, Executive Director of the Motorola Foundation.

We appreciate donating our charity handbags to such a great cause!!

For more information please visit

http://www.climatecycle100.com/.