2014 Mother’s Day
Can I just say:
I’m feeling so so so darn blessed lately.
Sometime in mid-2013 was the first time that I briefly thought that I may loose my mom to a sudden illness.
Isn’t it funny how “bad things” bring a stronger-than-ever-before awareness of the blessings we have in life?!
Of course we shouldn’t need to have “bad things happen” for it to be so, but heck! It happened, and I’m happily enjoying its beautiful side-effects of increased love awareness, and this beautiful and even more powerful bond we now have, that I would not trade for aaaanything in life.
These days, my mami and I speak on the phone every other day, and not one moment goes by without me letting her know how much I adore her, love her, admire her, and will forever be grateful for being my mom.
This is one of the reasons why Mother’s Day is now an even more special occasion. I get to openly and unabashedly celebrate my incredible (and now 100% healthy) mom, Lilian, but also celebrate YOU, and your mom, my beautiful mother-in-law and all the mothers who matter in our lives. . . even those of you who are moms-to-be !!
So this year, in preparation for May 11th (which is when we celebrate Mother’s day here in the US), we’re doing something SUPER DUPER SPECIAL 🙂
The idea was inspired by something that my father-in-law, Howard Stevens, has been doing over the last 2 + years; that is not only AWESOME but easy to do.
Many of you might know of KIVA. A non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.
So, Dad (my father-in-law) has been quietly giving loans to tens of poor Bolivian men and women with strong desires for a better life.
What has been fabulous, is seeing with my own eyes the impact of these (sometimes life-changing) contributions, where poor Bolivian entrepreneurs were able to start their businesses, grow them, or save them from closing down. And therefore impacting not just a person, but his/her whole family as well.
Dad is not the kind of guy that wears his emotions under his sleeves. So I was so surprised when I began witnessing how this small act of kindness was benefiting him emotionally as much as the people that he was helping financially. And Kiva is so fabulous in many fronts. They make sure that these connections become more than just seeing faces with names. Regular updates give the lender an insight into what those $25 or $100 dollars are doing for this fellow human being.
Case in point: Mrs. Rose. A bolivian single mother who went from being on the verge of total poverty, to now owning and running her own hair salon. And I’m happy to report that she is almost done paying back her loan!
How awesome is that ?! 😉
NOTE: If you visited this page before, you’ll notice that the picture of the “real” Mrs. Rose has been taken down. We indadvertedly posted her picture without having the right to do so.
So, using Mrs. Rose as an illustration of what is possible, VeruDesigns is THRILLED to announce our “Mother’s Day KIVA Lending Account” geared towards helping Bolivian MOM Entrepreneurs.
What is this all about? EEASY!
To celebrate Mother’s Day, we’ve selected a number of necklaces to join what I’m calling our KIVA SUPPORTER JEWELRY FAMILY, which you can see in our online boutique by clicking HERE.
Between today APRIL 29 and MAY 7th, any necklace that is purchased from this collection, will have 30% of its dollar value going towards our KIVA’s lender account, to support ONE of 3 Bolivian mom entrepreneurs that I’ve singled out for this awesome Mother’s Gift experiment.
If you visited this page before, you’ll notice that the pictures of the “real” Sonia, Elsa and Leonora were taken down. We indadvertedly posted their pictures without having the right to do so.
WHY AND HOW:
- WHY: By purchasing one of our KIVA necklaces as a Mother’s Day gift for yourself or your own mother, you’re doing two beautiful things at once: (a) You’re getting something that couldn’t be more unique, beautiful, handmade and one of a kind (just like you and each mother of this world!), (b) BUT you’re also gifting a mom who really needs our help to not only better her own life, but that of her children.
- EXTRA SPECIAL: Your necklace will come with a custom message and fabulous packaging, before May 11th!
- TELL ME: After you complete your purchase, all you need to do is e-mail me at Veruschka[at]VeruDesigns.com, and tell me which of the 3 moms would you like to support with your purchase.
- FOLLOW UP: From there on, (only if you want!) VeruDesigns will send you periodic updates of how your contribution is impacting this mother’s business.
- CLOSING THE CIRCLE: Once she finishes paying back her loan, I will personally contact you to have you decide if you’d like me to reimburse you the loan (dollars), or if you’d like to re-lend again to another bolivian mom.
Before you begin browsing our KIVA SUPPORTER JEWELRY FAMILY, make sure to learn a little bit about each of the 3 hardworking moms we’re hoping to support. Just CLICK on each of the below images,and you’ll be re-directed to their KIVA profile page, where you’ll see a REAL LIFE picture of them and much more!
No need to wait any longer! Have fun making this Mother’s day a SUPER DUPER EXTRA SPECIAL day for you and/or the mom in your life :-).
If you would like to make a “donation” to Kiva directly, visit their site by clicking HERE
If you loved today’s reveal, please SHARE THE LOVE! Feel free to use any of your favorite social media buttons below to share this post with your friends and loved ones. And, if you’d like to join our VIP group of besties and be the FIRST to see our 2014 BRIDAL JEWELRY COLLECTION (coming up next!) then sign-up below 🙂
