Omidi Charity Weaves Additional Support for the Blessing Basket Project
(PRWEB) December 18, 2013 -- Julian Omidi and Dr. Michael Omidi, through their charity No More Poverty, are happy to support the Blessing Basket Project, a nonprofit organization that helps skilled artisans from Ghana, Madagascar, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Bangladesh. The Omidi support will go directly to a new program called the “Artisan and You” that connects customers with the artisans.
“The Blessing Basket Project gives artisans who generally receive next to nothing for their many hours of work, a wage that helps lift them out of poverty individually, while also strengthening their communities on the whole,” says Julian Omidi, cofounder of No More Poverty. “We admire the wage model used by the Blessing Basket Project and its poverty-reducing strategy. On top of that, we are proud to support the new “Artisan and You” program that helps to educate about the realities of poverty and how a tremendous impact can be result from a seemingly small purchase.”
The goal of The Blessing Basket Project is to create economically independent communities, where artisans are able to start their own businesses. Artisans are paid using what is known as the Prosperity Wage model, developed by The Blessing Basket Project to pay the artisan at approximately 2.5 times the required fair trade wage. This unique and trademarked wage model enables artisans to sustainably exit poverty through entrepreneurship. The organization’s new “Artisan and You” program uses the internet to connect the customer with the Artisan who crafted the purchased basket. This provides customers the opportunity to learn more about the artisan and their community and how they are growing their business and escaping their impoverished conditions.
The Blessing Basket Project (http://www.blessingbasket.org) was founded by Theresa Carrington in 2003 following a difficult personal situation. When friends and family rallied around her -- helping with groceries, home upkeep and other family needs -- she filled a basket in her living room with all of their cards and letters as reminders of her many blessings. During her lectures to women’s groups about overcoming personal tragedy, attendees would ask where they could acquire “blessing baskets” so they could collect their own symbols of triumph and blessings. As a result, she began a business of selling encouragement baskets, but she wanted to make sure that the makers of the baskets would be compensated fairly, without having to surrender the bulk of the profits to a middle man. From there, The Blessing Basket Project and the Prosperity Wage system were born.
No More Poverty (http://www.nmp.org) is a not-for-profit charity organization (with a pending 501(c)3 application) founded by brothers Dr. Michael Omidi and Julian Omidi. The organization seeks to end poverty at home and abroad by supporting the efforts of like-minded charities and agencies. Current efforts are focused on increasing awareness of and donations to charities already doing great work to address poverty and its staggering effects throughout the world. The plan is to expand our activities to include fostering business development and job creation in disenfranchised areas.
Join us in the fight for No More Poverty. Suggestions for worthy partners in the fight for No More Poverty are welcome. For more information, please visit the organization’s social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.
Media Relations, No More Poverty, http://www.childrensobesityfund.org, +1 (855) 550-3100, [email protected]
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