Day 152: Whole Foods Meets Whole Planet Foundation

Whole Foods meets Whole Planet Foundation

Who doesn’t like shopping at Whole Foods. If you have one in your neighbourhood it is a real treat. We shop at Whole Foods at least once or twice a week. One of the things I like most about Whole Foods is they give you an opportunity to GIVE every time you shop.

Day 152: Give 152

Some people like to refer to Whole Foods or “Whole Pay Cheque”. I actually disagree as I always find great deals on so many specialty items. Most importantly when I go to Whole Foods I feel I am helping the planet, my community and in this case the world.

I did a post when I first started 365give (Day 27) on how much money I was able to donate through the Whole Foods bag program each year. At the check out, they give you the choice to get a bag refund off your bill if you bring your own bags or to donate it to a local charity.  A no brainier for me I wasn’t expecting money back from bringing my bags so we donate every time we shop. Bringing bags to the grocery store is about saving the planet to me.

Today they had a new GIVING opportunity. The company has partnered with The Whole Planet Foundation. Their mission is simple and brilliant:

“The Whole Planet Foundation’s mission is to create economic partnerships with the poor in those developing-world communities that supply our stores with product. Through innovative assistance for entrepreneurship – including direct microcredit loans and tangible support for other community partnership projects – we seek to unleash the energy and creativity of every human being we work with in order to create wealth and prosperity in emerging economies.”

Let the people help themselves rather than just supporting them with hand outs. Whole Foods has a very specific goal. To raise enough funds from February, 23, 2011 to March 31, 2011 to support 121 microloans in Latin America. You can donate in a number of ways:

1) Use your bag refund every time you bring your own bags into the store.

2) Make a cash donation at the till as you pay.

At the end of the day my bag refund plus a small donation will not break the bank for my family. If we all did just a little something we could reach that target and help so many people get themselves out of poverty. It means an education for their children both at school and from the family business as well as giving children opportunity to develop their family business as they grow up therefor keeping generations out of poverty permanently.

If you have a Whole Foods in your area take the time to go in and help. If you don’t have a Whole Foods in your hood, you can make a donation on line through the Whole Planet Foundation site.

Time Commitment: 30 seconds

Cost: $5.00