Every Penny Helps...
We here at Knotty Boy DreadStuff care a lot about what's going on in the world we live in, and to help in our small way as best we can, we donate a portion of every sale here at Knotty Boy DreadStuff to one of the following charities:
Children's Health, Education and Relief (CHER)
CHER is a registered, non-profit, charitable organization that aids in the relief of poverty, provides education and gives basic medical care/treatment to children in under-developed countries. This charity is operated by a board of Directors who serve voluntarily and through the utilization of one employee to connect donors with children for sponsorship. CHER makes it their mandate to give 89% of each donation to the sponsored child, and retain 11% for operational expenses.
Knotty Boy DreadStuff sponsored our first child in 1999, Memory Kalieka from Malawi, Africa, as a way of giving back in some small way what we had been blessed with through Knotty Boy in our first year of business. In 2003 we made it our public goal to be able to sponsor five additional children so they could also be receiving food, clothing and education by December of that year – a goal which we happily reached with your help!
In November 2005 we began a new initiative to continue the sponsorship of additional children around the world through our Child Sponsorship/Eco-Friendly Packaging fundraiser. Again, by our customers stepping up and adding $1 to their orders to have it packed in eco-friendly packing material, we have put $.50 of that $1 toward the sponsorship of a new child in need through CHER and are now sponsoring even more children in this way!
It may seem like a drop in the bucket to help only a small handful in a world overflowing with needy kids, but your donations are giving these children opportunities they might not have ever dreamed of otherwise. Thank you for your generosity, and keep bringing the love!
Meet all of our little cuties here!
- Child profiles last updated with new pictures and letters July 2007 -
Dreads For Wishes
http://dreadsforwishes.blogspot.com/
Kalen Stevens-Heap of Vancouver, BC, Canada, long-time dreadhead and Knotty Boy customer of four years, is now ‘selling’ every last one of her 69 golden waist-length locks to reach her goal of $10,000 to raise funds to donate to the Children’s Wish Foundation. This effort is in memory of her best friend Alice who passed away in 1998 at age 15 from osteogenic sarcoma, the same cancer from which Terry Fox suffered. The Children’s Wish Foundation granted Alice’s wish by sending her on a wonderful trip to Banff, Alberta a few months before she passed way. Now Kalen is doing what she can to give another child an opportunity like the one Alice had by giving up a piece of herself – her hair.
Not only has Knotty Boy made a small donation of our own and ‘bought’ one of her locks, we are also helping Kalen make the transition from lengthy-to-short locks of love once her goal has finally been met. Our brave stylists at the Knotty Boy Lock Shop and Salon are donating their own time to actually do the deed of cutting them off for Kalen, then following it with a deep-clean and scalp massage, cut, colour and style to give her a fresh, brand-spankin’-new look from which she can start growing her lovely locks again!
If you would like to help Kalen raise dreadlock-dollars for a child with a terminal illness to receive their wish by ‘buying’ one of her locks, please visit her website http://dreadsforwishes.blogspot.com/ for more information. Don’t worry if you don’t have a lot to give – remember, every penny helps! You can also find a banner and link on her site to add to your own blog or website to help spread the word for her. Support your fellow Knotty kid Kalen for a good cause!
 |
Update April 2006
The deed has been done, and with Knotty Becca and Zoe’s help, Kalen has closed the dreadlocked chapter of her life, and opened a brand new one. After raising over $2000 for her cause, on March 26, 2006, Kalen arrived at the Knotty Boy Lock Shop and Salon where balloons and Knotty Sarah’s homemade carrot cake (who knew it was Kalen’s favorite?) were waiting to welcome her and celebrate the special occasion. Moments later, surrounded by friends, supporters and Knotty staff - some of us teary-eyed! - Kalen was transformed from flowing dreadlocked beauty into an adorable, short-haired pixie version of herself. Her lovely locks were then gathered up to be later ceremoniously burned on Denman Island with her sister, in memory of her friend Alice. It was a wonderful day for all of us involved, and we at Knotty Boy are so happy to have been a part of it with Kalen.
And even though most of our Knotty family wasn’t able to be there for the event, we were still thinking of you! We have made a short movie of that day so you, too, can feel like you were a part of it. Please feel free to rate it, add a comment for Knotty Boy or Kalen, and request it to be ‘Featured’ so more people can be a part of it, too.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if this were to spark a phenomenon of lock-chopping for charity around the world? If you are thinking of chopping your dreads sometime soon, consider doing what Kalen has done and use it as an opportunity to raise money for a cause you believe in! Contact us so we can help promote your project - we would be happy to help in any way we can.
Vegan Outreach
"The decision that has led millions of people to stop eating other animals is not rooted in arid adherence to diet or dogma, but in the desire to eliminate the kinds of experiences that using animals for food confers upon beings with feelings." Karen Davis, PhD
We here at Knotty Boy are big supporters of conscious consumerism . Cruelty to animals is something that no one really likes to hear or think about, and this is why we chose to donate to the Vegan Outreach Society , who is actively educating thousands of people in North America about the stone-cold facts regarding the unbelievable amount of cruelty and suffering these animals go through before they reach our plates. The donations we make to this society help them to continue their research and make it available to those individuals wishing to become more conscious of what they are putting into their bodies, and what we are doing to the planet by supporting the animal-processing industry. If you would like to learn more about these issues, you can select the free Why Vegan? starter pack on your order form when you place an order with Knotty Boy, or go to www.veganoutreach.com for more information.
Here's a note of thanks from the good people at Vegan Outreach…
To whom it may concern,
I've noticed that a fair amount of individuals request vegan starter packs from us, noting that they heard about us from your website. I just checked out your site and saw your link and note about us. I just wanted to let you know that your support is heartening and much appreciated, not to mention effective in helping to reduce animal suffering.
Thanks very much,
Jon Camp
Vegan Outreach Society
Highland Park , NJ
Other Charities We’ve Contributed To
Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Center
Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Center is a registered, non-profit, charitable organization located in Victoria, BC, that assists women who are victims of sexual and physical abuse by providing them a safe place to stay and receive the physical and emotional help that they need.
Union Gospel Mission
'Union Gospel Mission is a non-profit organization that provides meals, shelter and support to the homeless people of Vancouver, BC. With your help, so far our contributions have totaled enough to feed 420 homeless people in our town Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners over the past few years!
Thank you, all, for your support of Knotty Boy DreadStuff and the charities we contribute to - every little bit helps to ease the pain of our hurting brothers and sisters!