Adopt-a-Box

Sure, they're not as cute as the baby ducks you can help buy for families in need through Heifer International, nor do they pull at the heartstrings as much as the children you can "adopt" through programs like Christian Children's Fund.

But it's still a great idea. And if you look really, really hard, those boxes are kinda...I don't know...stalwart and true?

Anyway, Just Coffee, a 100% fair trade company right out of Madison (that delivers all of their product via tricycle!) is hosting an "Adopt-a-Box" program called The Seed Project:

The Seed Project is looking for people willing to Adopt-A-Box. We now have over 20 (twenty) boxes of seeds waiting to be mailed to Timor-Leste (East Timor). The cost per box to send Global Priority Flat Rate is $37 per box. These boxes hold approximately ten (10) pounds of non-hybrid seeds which have been donated by various individuals and seeds companies. These seeds are desperately needed by the Timorese. With the Adopt-A-Box program you as an individual will receive a photograph of the box which you have adopted, as well as a 12oz. bag of coffee compliments of Just Coffee. And you will be able to check updates on our website to see pictures of people growing food, directly benefiting from your generous donation. Please think of this as not only a box, but as a way of helping people desperately in need of food sovereignty.

Programs like these are so much more effective at fighting poverty and the like than just regular charitable donations. It's the whole "give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for the rest of his life" philosophy. Providing ways for people to have a sustainable way of making money and/or food has long-term positive effects. We should be looking to support and create more programs like Adopt-A-Box and, on a larger scale, things like micro-credit and micro-loans.

It's good to see local organizations jumping in and doing what they can. Just Coffee already does a lot to foster fair business practices, so kudos to them for finding new ways to help out, too.