Giving Programs & Causes
Giving Programs and Partners
Jade’s mission is not just about making great, eco-friendly yoga products, but about giving back – to the earth and to the community. We do this in four ways:
1. Give Back to the Earth
Jade is committed to giving back to the earth with every product sold. We want to leave the earth a better place than when we found it. As Jade mats come from trees, we decided to give back by planting a tree for every mat sold. And since 2006, through our partnership with Trees for the Future, we have done just that, planting over two million trees so far.
With each of our other product lines we also pair an organization so that for example with each block sold we preserve rain forest, with each bag sold, we preserve chimpanzee habitat, with each strap sold we offset CO2 emissions, with each mat wash sold we supply a bar of soap to a person in need, with each towel sold we provide clean drinking water for a person in the developing world and with each rug sold, we provide one week of hot lunches with each cotton Mysore rug sold. You can learn more about these programs below (insert link to Give Back Partners below)
2. Color Causes
Second, through our “Color Cause” program, we donate $5 from each mat of a specific color to a specific cause. For example, $5 from the sale of each Teal mat goes to ovarian cancer causes, $5 from each Pink mat goes to breast cancer charities and $5 from each Saffron Mat goes to autism causes. Through these programs we have donated over $250,000 for ovarian cancer, autism and breast cancer causes. These colors run for limited times during the year.
3. Community Partners
Third, we wholeheartedly believe that very often the people who can benefit most from yoga are the ones least likely to have the opportunity to take a yoga class. Fortunately, we have found yoga teachers to be among the most giving people we have ever met – volunteering their time to teach yoga in shelters, hospitals, rehab centers, prisons and more. With so many teachers willing to give their time, often what is missing are mats. Thus, Jade is committed to giving away 50 mats per month for use in these programs.
Please keep in mind that as we are inundated with hundreds of requests for donations every year, we cannot respond to or approve every request. Our priorities are programs that provide yoga to organizations working with:
- Domestic violence
- Human trafficking
- Veterans
- Homeless
- Prison/reentry
- Drug & Alcohol Rehab
- Special needs children (autism, Down’s syndrome, chronic and serious diseases)
We recognize that there are many worthwhile organizations that are not on the above list, but due to the volume of requests we receive we cannot satisfy every request and have to prioritize our giving. In order to provide mats for as many organizations as possible, we limit donations to 12 demo mats (these are new mats with cosmetic defects) or (slightly) used mats per organization. We will only donate to organizations that lack funds to purchase mats and provide ongoing programs where mats are used by multiple people rather than a short term programs or a single user.
While other non-profits, schools and community centers are doing excellent work bringing yoga to many populations in need, we are unable to donate mats to an organization unless it clearly falls within one of the above categories. We do, however, offer discounts to many non-profits, schools and community centers.
If you would like to apply for a mat donation and you fall within the above guidelines, please download and complete this application and email it back to info@jadeyoga.com. Please keep in mind that we have hundreds of requests for donations every year so it may take up to 4-6 weeks to get an approval.
If you do not hear back from us within 6 weeks it is because we determined that your project did not fit within our guidelines or was not selected for a donation. Multiple emails will be disregarded or result in disqualification of your application.
4. Giving Days
There are currently four days throughout the year that we donate a portion of profits to specific causes. First, of course, is Earth Day. We give 10% of our online sales on Earth Day to an environmental organization. We are open to suggestions from our community on which organization should receive these funds and usually will reach out in the days leading up to Earth Day for proposals. On Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving), we give to organizations that are very personal to us. In prior years, we have give to the Support Center for Child Advocates, a Philadelphia non-profit that provides legal and social services to abused and neglected children in Philadelphia and the Aplastic Anemia MDS National Association, an organization providing support, education and research for these rare but very serious bone marrow disorders.
Our Give Back Partners
We are proud to support to following amazing organizations that each bring a unique and powerful impact in the communities they serve.
Trees for the Future
Buy a mat, plant a tree
Our flagship partner, Trees for the Future is dedicated to planting trees with rural communities in the developing world, enabling them to restore their environment, grow more food, and build a sustainable future.
Trees for the Future does this work through their Forest Garden Program. The Forest Garden Program is a simple, replicable, and scalable approach with proven success. How? It starts with trees. Through their 4-year training program, called the Forest Garden Approach, farmers plant thousands of trees that protect and bring nutrients back to the soil. This helps farmers grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. Forest Garden farmers gain increases in income and access to food, even in the first year, all while improving the environment.
Jade works with Trees for the Future by providing funding for these projects, planting one tree for every mat sold – the more mats sold, the more trees there will be for the future. Through our buy a mat, plant a tree program, we have now planted over TWO MILLION trees.
The Water Project
Buy a towel, provide fresh drinking water
The Water Project, Inc. has the lofty goal of unlocking human potential by providing sustainable water projects to communities in sub-Saharan Africa who suffer needlessly from a lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation. For over seven years, The Water Project has been helping communities gain access to clean, safe water by providing training, expertise and financial support for water project construction through our staff and implementing partners. The Water Project operates by:
- Going and Doing – They don't just write checks. They are deeply involved in the hard work of providing water.
- Taking Risks - They invest in new and growing partners whose contributions are crucial to solving the water crisis.
- Making Mistakes - Risks and mistakes go hand in hand. It happens. They share our experience so others won't repeat them.
- Always Listening - There is much to glean from our neighbors.
Jade supports the Water Project through sales of our microfiber towels by providing funding with each towel sold to supply drinking water for one adult in the developing world for one day.
www.thewaterproject.org
Rainforest Trust
Buy a block, preserve the rainforest
Rainforests are one of the most important natural resources on Earth, and affect the daily lives of everyone on our planet. They safely store billions of tons of carbon, helping to mitigate climate change and stabilize global weather patterns. Rainforests are also home to 50% of the world’s species (many of which are critically endangered) and thousands of indigenous communities rely on these forests for their food, water and economic prosperity. In short, rainforests help to sustain life on this planet, and their long-term protection is absolutely vital for our survival.
The Rainforest Trust ensures the protection of these vital ecosystems through partnerships with local communities and trusted in-country partner NGOs. The charity has already saved over 20 million acres of rainforest and other tropical ecosystems, and aims to place 50 million acres under permanent protection by the end of 2020.
Through our partnership, Jade is able to preserve 2,000 square feet of rainforest with each cork block that is sold.
https://www.rainforesttrust.org/
Clean the World
Buy mat wash, clean the world
Clean the World Foundation is a global health organization committed to improving the quality of life for vulnerable communities around the world. They provide sustainable resources, programming, and education focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene for all those affected by poverty, homelessness, and humanitarian or natural crises.
Through this partnership, Jade provides a bar of soap to a person in need with the sale of each bottle of mat wash.
Akshaya Patra Foundation
Buy a yoga rug, feed a child
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India headquartered in Bengaluru, India. Their organization strives to eliminate classroom hunger by implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the government schools and government-aided schools. Akshaya Patra also aims at countering malnutrition and supporting the right to education of socio-economically disadvantaged children.
Through Jade's partnership with Akshaya Patra, we are able to provide one week of meals to a child in India with the sale of each Mysore yoga rug.
Terrapass
Buy a strap, offset carbon emissions
Terrapass is an organization dedicated to the fight against climate change. Their mission is to provide the resources necessary for companies and individuals to understand and take responsibility for their climate impact. They do this in a number of ways.
- They provide educational tools and resources, such as online carbon footprint calculators. They also help businesses and institutions prepare a more detailed or complex carbon footprint analysis.
- They help create, implement, and operate customer-funded emissions reduction projects at facilities, such as dairy farms and landfills. Learn more about their projects here.
- They work with businesses and institutions to develop custom renewable energy solutions for their operations.
Through Jade's partnership with Terrapass, with the purchase of each strap, Jade offsets 25 lbs of carbon emissions.
The Bulindi Chimpanzee and Community Project
Buy a bag, protect a chimpanzee habitat
The Bulindi Chimpanzee & Community Project helps local households in Western Uganda conserve the forest, which is so critical to the survival of the chimpanzees, by supporting them in key areas.
Since the project's inception in 2015, local households in Bulindi committed to stop clearing forest, which is starting to regenerate, and the chimpanzees had a baby boom with four new infants born in 2016! In 2017 the project began expanding to nearby areas to conserve other imperiled families of chimpanzees and support additional village households.
Through our partnership, Jade is able to protect chimpanzee habitat in Western Uganda with every yoga bag sold.
https://bulindichimpanzees.weebly.com/
Living Beyond Breast Cancer
Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) is dedicated to assisting people, whether they are newly diagnosed, in treatment, recently completed treatment, are years beyond or are living with metastatic breast cancer. They are also there for your family members, caregivers, friends and healthcare providers to provide breast cancer information and support.
As a national education and support organization, their goal is to connect people with trusted breast cancer information and a community of support, regardless of educational background, social support or financial means. We support LBBC by donating a portion of proceeds from the sale of our pink mats.
www.lbbc.org
The Monell Center
As the the world’s only independent, non-profit scientific institute dedicated to interdisciplinary basic research on the senses of taste and smell Monell might seem like a strange partner for Jade. However, in partnership with doctors from Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the Penn Veterinary School and the Penn Nanotechnology Center, Monell is doing some very promising research into early detection of ovarian cancer – which is vital in successful outcomes. This team has managed to train dogs to smell the difference between a drop of blood of someone who has ovarian cancer and someone who does not. The next step is to build a machine using nanotechnology to do what the dogs can do using tubes of carbon that are one atom thick. If they can build this machine the hope is one day that doctors can provide a simple test for ovarian cancer in their office. Thanks again to the sale of Teal mats, Jade has been able to provide significant support for this project.
http://www.monell.org
NAA New York Metro
NAA is a chapter of the National Autism Association. The Mission of the New York Chapter of the NAA is to educate and empower those in the Autism community, never giving up in the search to help affected individuals reach their full potential. The chapter is led by parents, grandparents, caregivers, and professionals working with children affected by autism spectrum disorders, and their families. Through the sale of our saffron mats we are able to support this organization.
http://www.naanyc.org
Invictus Bakery
Invictus Bakery provides work readiness, job training, and employment opportunities to people of all abilities. Their mission is to ensure that everyone that comes there can participate in their work readiness and job training programs and is supported and enabled to reach their full potential. 85% of people on the autism spectrum within the US are currently unemployed, and Invictus is looking to close the gap by providing skilled and meaningful work opportunities. Through the sale of our saffron mats we are able to support them in this work.
Ashrams for Autism
Ashrams for Autism seeks to empower and guide the autism community toward peacefully achieving their highest potential through yoga. Their vision is to build facilities where individuals can follow a healthy, daily routine inspired by the principles of an ashram. They believe a sanctuary such as this will promote productivity, confidence and a sense of security for those with autism. Through the sale of our saffron mats we have been able to help support this vision.
http://ashrams4autism.org
Local Women's Handicraft
Local Women's Handicraft in Nepal seeks to empower and educate women, enabling them to write their own destiny. They provide a safe space for women who have escaped abusive practices in the textile industry and other injustices in their local communities. Their manufacturing facilities allow these women to learn new skills and crafts as a group to help heal and rehabilitate their spirits. Through raising awareness and making fashion in an ethical way, their goal is to end childhood slavery, forced marriage, and other injustices against women. We sell their handmade recycled sari products which include yoga rugs, yoga bags, kindle cases and place mats to support them in their work.