Local businesses in Sudbury, Ont., embrace Give Back Friday.
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Some Sudbury, Ont., businesses plan to give back to local charities instead of discounting their products on Black Friday.
“Everyone knows Black Friday is a crazy day of consumerism,” said Kamila Cowell, social media and marketing director for Sudbury clothing store Sew & Stone.
“So we decided to pause a little bit over the last couple of years, take a moment to reflect, and see how we can give back to the community instead of encouraging everyone to get caught up in the frenzy of the day. “
This year Stitch and Stone will donate a portion of its proceeds to the Sudbury Women’s Center on Friday.
On Saturday, the store will also partner with Amici Food and Beverage, in Sudbury, to sell cookie-making kits. Proceeds from the kits will also go to the Sudbury Women’s Centre.
Cowell said that in past years they have been able to raise about $1,000 for various local charities on Black Friday.
Helping needs to start in your community and then you can build outward and help outward from there.– Hannah Poole, Owner, Good Luck General Store
Fundraisers from local businesses like Sewing and Stone are a big help, said Galia Carpenter, executive director of the Sudbury Women’s Centre.
“This is extremely important to us because it not only helps us, the funds raised, to buy basic necessities for our clients, which they need on a daily basis, but it also helps them also helps increase visibility. center,” he said.
The center helps women navigate difficult situations.
“So a lot of our clients are coming from intimate partner violence, homelessness, addiction, everything,” Carpenter said.
She said the center has several programs, including its popular My Sister’s Closet, a small boutique where clients can pick up free clothes and other items.
Hannah Poole, owner of Good Luck General Store, a gift and plant shop in downtown Sudbury, will donate 20 percent of the store’s proceeds to the Go-Give project on Friday.
The organization is volunteer-run and offers harm reduction services to people in Sudbury.
“Help needs to start in your community and then you can build outward and help outward from there,” Poole said.
Poole said she chose to donate to the Go-Give project because her business is located downtown, where there are more homeless people who benefit from her services.
