A few mornings ago, one of my (exceptionally style-savvy) colleagues sent me a link to SAME SKY. A few hours later, so did another. Clearly this cause was striking a chord, and I had to learn more.

SAME SKY’s mission is to lift HIV+ women in developing African countries up and out of poverty by training them to crochet boutique-beautiful glass bead jewelry (and for about 15 to 20 times the average Sub Saharan wage). One-hundred percent of these pieces’ proceeds goes back into the organization, with the purpose of hiring and training even more women. As SAME SKY puts it, “Instead of a handout, we give these women a hand-up and the tools to lift themselves out of poverty.”

Even the most thorough round of name-dropping wouldn’t do these bracelets’ fan base justice, though I’ll try. (Deep breath.) Halle Berry, Meryl Streep, Jessica Alba, Liza Minnelli, Alicia Keys, Chelsea Clinton, Katie Couric… to name a few. (You can check out the full lineup here.)

So attend a SAME SKY event, host your own trunk show, or simply buy a bauble online – and women in need can rebuild the lives they deserve.

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now.

Proof that, sometimes, tough times can give way to good things? Fashion Delivers.

Having started in 2005 as a relief effort to the devastation wreaked by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Fashion Delivers is a nonprofit organization that partners with manufacturers and retailers to provide apparel and home goods to situations of poverty and disaster relief. The donations from these partners are channeled to local social services agencies, who distribute the products within their region.

Want to get your apparel or home company involved with Fashion Delivers? Click here to learn more about donating. (Financial contributions are accepted, too.)

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now.

Food
Of course, “cooking for an army” is the kitchen aficionado’s holiday M.O. All those resulting leftovers? Donate them to a food bank.

Coats
You scored that much-wanted puffer for Hannukah – now give your old one a whole new lease on life.

Sports Equipment
The garage can only hold so many soccer balls, after all.

Toys
Hands down the surest way to make any deserving kid happy.

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now.

Here at Rue, there’s no shortage of really, REALLY great staff traditions. Freshly popped popcorn every day at 3PM, the hallowed Bagel Fridays, Craft Beer Thursdays in IT… the list goes on. One that stands apart from all the rest, though? Our annual Toy Drive (or, as we affectionately call it, “Mitten Gifts”).

Partnering with the Boston Department of Child Services, we’re able to provide over 200 underprivileged kids with gifts they may not have received otherwise. It works like this: Rue employees pick a mitten (well, a piece of construction paper cut into the shape of a mitten) which lists the gift wishes of a specific child. The gifts are then purchased, wrapped, and placed in our café to be delivered accordingly. And while participation is totally optional, let’s just say – the pile of presents this year, as a whole, weighed in at 400 pounds.

While, for me, it’s so easy to obsess over what I think I absolutely need (my many Pinboards can attest to that), it’s times like these – when people come together to make Christmas just a bit brighter for others – that truly puts the meaning of the holidays into much-needed perspective.

Would you like to make a donation of your own? Click here to learn more.

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now.

Images via GIVEGIVE

(We. Are. Obsessed.)

Meet GIVEGIVE, a company dedicated to bettering the lives of women in need by way of spot-on design. Their signature line, MULXIPLY, is comprised of (exceptionally giftable) iPad® sleeves, clutches, zipper pouches, and more, made with felt, and by Nepalese women. GIVEGIVE makes the conscious choice to enlist the work of women in co-ops as opposed to factory workers to produce these products, so as to ensure fair-trade partnerships (meaning employees are receiving the wages they desevrve, along with postiive working conditions and benefits surrounding education and healthcare). In short, these pieces are the way by which women are realizing opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise received.

Now meet Tanja Cesh and Annalisa Oswald – co-founders of GIVEGIVE.

In 2010, after having spent most of her professional career in design and fashion, Cesh decided to take a hiatus and traveled to South Asia to get a closer look at the oppression and abuse so many women of the region face on a daily basis. She met various businesses and projects which had worked to empower women by way of providing them with jobs by way of creative work, but also recognized the importance of outside partnerships and market-forward designs in order to draw interest and support (which, of course, would lead to even further growth and opportunity for those employed women).

Upon her return to the States two years later, Tanja met up with Annalisa Oswald – herself boasting a background in graphic design and web development, as well as teaching at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) – and together they decided to do something about what Cesh had witnessed during her two-year journey. That something, of course, became GIVEGIVE.

PS: You’re in luck! – GIVEGIVE’s online shop just launched. So get in there, and do some good by way of giving. (Orders placed through December 17th will arrive in time for Christmas.)

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now.

Having noted that models absorb massive amounts of creativity day in and day out (by way of photographers, stylists, and otherwise), model Edythe Hughes decided that not only was a creative outlet in order – but that it could be used to benefit the greater good. (And she was right.)

Enter: Project Model Tee (PMT), a line of T-shirts boasting models’ original art. The nonprofit organization actively recruits models to lend their designs, with an end-goal of raising money for various causes. As an additional fundraising initiative, PMT hosts events around New York City to bring more awareness to a spotlighted charity. Currently, PMT’s efforts are dedicated to raising funds for the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), the country’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.

Expect the one-of-a-kind tees to be made available to the public at the organization’s official launch party, scheduled for February 2013, and from there, online and in stores.

For more information on PMT’s events, initiatives, and more, be sure to check out both their website  and their Facebook page.

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now. 

The Do-Gooder: Bobbi Brown
The Cause: Dress for Success (DFS)
The Mission: To promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support, and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Lauren: How did you originally get involved with Dress for Success?
Bobbi: I first got involved in 2001 and joined the board in 2005. During my first introductory meeting with Dress for Success, I was so moved by the cause I remember that I took off the scarf I was wearing to donate it. My goal from the beginning of my career has been to empower women, so this cause aligns perfectly with that.

Lauren: What is it about Dress for Success that speaks to you, personally?
Bobbi: Dress for Success is an amazing organization because it gives women the tools and knowledge they need to look like, and eventually become, the person they hope to be. It empowers women to be self-sustaining and take care of themselves and their families, ultimately building their confidence and repairing their self-esteem.

Lauren: Can you describe the work that you do with them?
Bobbi: At the beginning, we were involved through in-kind donations and monetary support. Over the years, we’ve donated time and support in a variety of ways, including makeup lessons to teach women how to create work-appropriate makeup looks. The brand also donates $25,000 to DFS every time I appear on QVC. [Bobbi also cochaired the 2011 Something to Share gala, which raised a record-breaking $1.75 million.]

Lauren: What’s been your most memorable experience with Dress for Success?
Bobbi: It’s hard to choose just one. I look forward to chairing the annual galas and volunteering at the DFS Walk Fundraisers. Another great moment was when I actually hired a DFS client on the spot when I met her in 2010. She currently works in our NYC office with our Artistry team.

Lauren: How has your involvement inspired you, personally or professionally?
Bobbi: I firmly believe that the more you give in life, the more you get back. DFS is just one of the organizations I’ve been involved with over the years that I’ve gotten so much out of through my involvement. The reason that I started my brand was to empower women to be their best selves, so to be aligned with an organization that does this in another way is even more fulfilling.

Lauren: How can others get involved?
Bobbi: By volunteering your time, donating clothing, or even pledging money (think of it as a “gift that gives back” with the holidays coming up). The Dress for Success website is a great resource for all these things.

Lauren David Peden writes for Rue La La as a Contributing Editor.

Rather than piling on the chemicals, preservatives, and everything else found in most makeup and skin products, One Love Organics’s cosmetic creations ensure healthy skin by way of the purest ingredients. Their “Easy Does It” foaming cleanser, for example? Its ingredients include organic Chilean soap bark, cold-pressed apple oil, and vegetable glycerin.

As if it could get any better than glowing, healthy skin, it does: 1% of One Love Organics’s net annual proceeds go to two organizations, both of which support families in need. The first is CARE, a leading international organization dedicated to fighting the underlying causes of global poverty. And the second, The Children’s Scholarship Fund, assists low-income families in sending their children to the private schools of their choice.

All that to say, it’s going to be a long winter – we suggest loading up.

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

For more on stylish acts of charity, check our In Good Fashion column every Thursday.

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now. 

As our CEO, Ben Fischman, explained in an email that went out this past Monday, help is just a click away.

“We want to invite you, and all of our Members, to join this effort. It is our hope that many of you will donate $10 (or more if you like) to the American Red Cross 2012 Hurricane Fund. And just as we’re doing for our own Rue team, donate here, and we will match your donation.*”

*Rue La La’s total donation capped at $75,000 now through November 12, 2012.

By Sarah Stanley, Staff Writer

Not a Member and like The (Style) Guide? You’ll love Rue La La. Join now.

Feed The Children continues to dispatch truckloads of disaster-relief supplies, food, toiletries, clean water, and more to areas in need. Help get as many trucks on the road as possible by donating here.

Habitat for Humanity has taken action by assisting in home re-builds. To contribute to this initiative financially, call their Partner Service Center at 1-800-HABITAT (422-4828), then press “0″, to provide a representative with your information over the phone.

To aid in providing medical assistance and supplies, donate to Americares here.

Check out Hope for New York for a continually updated list of specific spots in need – all in the New York City area.

Eager to lend a hand? Volunteer organizations abound. Check out opportunities within the American Red Cross, Team Rubicon, National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster,  The Corporation for National and Community Service, and The Humane Society of the United States (to name a few). For a list of emergency shelters in the New York City area, click here.

And, of course, it’s critical to be sure that your contributed dollars are actually making it to the right place. The Huffington Post suggests keeping these tips in mind as you look to donate.