Doing a little shopping? Check out this list of 9 Companies that give when you do, curated by one of my favorite Giving Companies, Mitscoots!  If you don’t know Miscoots, they are helping the homeless get gear & work by making beanies, socks & scarves. Watch this vid: http://bit.ly/1YhL7cQ

1. BETTER LIFE BAGS

Better Life Bags started as a hobby of Rebecca Smith’s in 2009 as a way for her to combat boredom. When she began creating bags, she gave 10% of each bag’s proceeds to a low income entrepreneur overseas through microloans. Eventually she moved to a low-income area of Detroit and in 2012, when demands for her bags grew, she turned to the neighborhood for help. Their mission is to hire women who have various barriers to employment to make their custom leather and fabric bags. They are adopted into the Better Life family and given a chance to succeed.

2. EVERYTHING HAPPY

As a company, Everything Happy is determined to bring smiles to every child - both locally and worldwide. Their philosophy is “one to love, one to give” and this is evidenced by the fact that for every Happy product purchased, another one is given to a child in need. Together with his family, founder David Holdridge distributes Everything Happy products to children in hospitals and orphanages all over the world.

3. ROMA BOOTS

Roma Boots was founded in 2010 by Samuel Bistrian as a way to help children in his native country of Romania. The idea behind Roma is that it means love and by combining one man’s love of both philanthropy and fashion, it’s working it’s way to eradicate poverty as a condition and as a state of mind in order to grant the world peace. When you purchase a pair, another pair is donated to a child in need. Additionally, ten percent of all proceeds funds educational initiatives around the world.

4. NAJA

Naja was co-founded by Catalina Girald and Gina Rodriguez after they met while being filmed for Procter & Gamble’s Orgullosa Series, “Nine Up and Coming Nueva Latinas”. The mission behind Naja is to change the way women shop for lingerie while disrupting how the industry runs as a whole. They’ve done this by primarily employing single mothers or female heads of households and paying them above market wages with healthcare benefits. At Naja, they’ve implemented flexible work policies that make it easier for women to balance work and childcare. Every child of a Naja garment worker also receives books, school supplies, uniforms and Naja pays for all their school meals. Through their Underwear for Hope program, Naja employs women in the slums of Colombia to make lingerie bags that are offered with each Naja purchase.

5. LAMON LUTHER

While eating lunch one day, Brian Preston overheard talk at the next table. It was then that he discovered the plight of those who were homeless and living in the woods of his suburban Georgia community. He realized that what they needed was some tools and a second chance. Out of this discovery came Lamon Luther, which is a collaboration that ultimately has resulted in expertly crafted furniture. Lamon Luther provides jobs for homeless carpenters that are transitioning out of recovery programs. Every piece is crafted by someone who cares.

6. CLOTHE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF

Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself started after founder, James Barnett, decided to intentionally live homeless for two years. During that time he noticed how his homeless friends were in need of shoes and socks. He recognized the empowering qualities of clothing; they had the power to make or break someone’s ability to get a job. How CYNY works is that for each order of CYNY apparel YOU get to decide how the profit from your order will be spent. What this means is that your profit will get spent on what matters most to you, whether that’s providing the required uniform to a student in Kenya or providing a new work wardrobe to someone graduating from a vocational school. Whatever way you want your purchase to help, they will make sure it happens.

7. DOG FOR DOG

In December of 2011, Rocky Kanaka founded DOG for DOG after feeling frustrated that he wasn’t doing enough to help dogs in need. DOG for DOG works on the one-for-one model; for every item you purchase, food goes to a dog in need. The number of dogs in shelters grows daily and the cost of feeding them is a strain on the shelters that care for the dogs. By purchasing an item from DOG for DOG, you’re helping continue their mission of helping as many shelter and rescue dogs as they possibly can.

8. HALF UNITED

Brother and sister duo Christian and Carmin Black had $200 and a passion to help those in need. In 2009, out of their drive to help those who needed it most, Half United was founded. Half United offers everything from apparel to jewelry and for every item purchased, 7 meals are given to a child in need. They don’t just give to children in need in foreign countries like Fiji, Haiti, and Cambodia, they also give to the US as well.

9. THE SHINE PROJECT

During Ashley LeMieux's senior year of college, she was involved in a program called AVID which prepares students to enter college after high school graduation. The problem she noticed, was that most of the students didn't feel like college was on option for them, due to a lack of mentorship and financial reasons. She then started a blog entitled “The Shine Project” as a way of offering a space for people to come and tackle the challenges they were facing in their lives. After giving away 7 scholarships, she realized that what the inner city youth needed was not a one time thing. In 2012 she taught herself to make bracelets and The Shine Project was transformed. The Shine Project currently employees 11 inner city youth via their Threads operation which allows them to be involved with running everything from customer service, shipping, jewelry design, t-shirt design, new product design, sales, and events. The Shine Project has given over 40 scholarships since 2011 and 100% of donations given to the non-profit goes directly to the students.