From art and fashion to the culinary community, four companies with compassion at their core dedicate themselves to helping others every day, reminding us that small acts of kindness fill the world with joy and happiness.
Women’s well-being is a top priority for Nashville’s ABLE, a fashionable apparel, accessories, and jewelry company. ABLE partners with manufacturers in Ethiopia, Peru, and Mexico, and has a home-based jewelry production team. Founder Barrett Ward’s ultimate goal is to end the cycle of poverty by offering women steady work. A purchase from ABLE gives you a beautiful item and helps other women, says Jen Milam, the company’s director of merchandising. “We’re really allowing women to be participants in building up other women,” she says.
Across town on Nashville’s Music Row is Just Love Coffee, which supports charities one cup—or bag of aromatic beans—at a time. Founder Rob Webb’s business combines two passions: hand-roasting coffee and aiding adoptive families. Each café (there are several locations) gives part of their proceeds to various nonprofits and also sells private-label bags to support the organizations of their choice. “All things being equal, if product A is just as good as product B, I think it speaks well of humanity that people would prefer to patronize the company that gives back,” says Rob.
Spearheaded by Allison Williamson of Charleston, South Carolina, Artist Collective supports local charities by selling affordable local artwork through easily accessible web galleries. In addition to Charleston, Artist Collective commissions artists in Nashville, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., to create paintings based on a theme. Bimonthly, curators and painters in each city select a cause to support, dedicating 5 percent of profits to the chosen organization. “From the very beginning it was important to me to give back to the community where the artists were all getting their inspiration,” says Allison, who has plans of expanding to several more cities.
In Atlanta and surrounding counties, Giving Kitchen (GK) helps restaurant employees facing hardships caused by an accident, illness, or natural disaster. Inspiration struck Jen Hidinger-Kendrick when her late husband was diagnosed with cancer, and support poured in from the restaurant community to cover his expensive treatments. Jen wanted to provide the same generosity to others in desperate situations and aims to eventually serve the whole Southeast.
By Ashley Shaw
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