Empowering Individuals in the Global Community Through Entrepreneurship
These organizations help maximize our reach, intellectual capacity and effectiveness through technical support, fundraising support or communicating our mission with Whole Foods Market team members, customers and the general public.
Whole Planet Foundation's Poverty Is Unnecessary Fund was launched in November 2009. The purpose of the Poverty Is Unnecessary Fund is to engage Whole Foods Market vendors, suppliers and partners in Whole Planet Foundation's mission to empower the poor through microcredit. Each member's $25,000 annual donation to Whole Planet Foundation provides expansion funds for new microlending projects. In 2010, Whole Planet Foundation has plans to support the poor in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, China, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. To recognize the generosity of Poverty Is Unnecessary Fund members, Whole Planet Foundation announces new members online, in our e-newsletter and encourages Whole Foods Market locations to celebrate this meaningful support. Members are encouraged to promote their support of Whole Planet Foundation's mission to raise awareness for poverty eradication.
"Poverty is Unnecessary" - Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate
The Simply Orange Juice Company is the founding member and proud sponsor of Whole Planet Foundation's Poverty Is Unnecessary Fund donating $25,000 in one year to empower the poor through microcredit. Made from premium, 100 percent not-from-concentrate orange juice, Simply Orange® is never frozen, never sweetened, and gently pasteurized to ensure that you always enjoy a "fresh-squeezed" taste experience. Enjoy Simply Fresh-Squeezed Taste.
Whole Planet Foundation's Change for Change Fund was launched in September 2009, with founding member Be Green Packaging. The purpose of the Change for Change Fund is to engage members of the Whole Foods Market family - vendors, suppliers, shoppers - in Whole Planet Foundation's mission to empower the poor through microcredit. Each member's $10,000 annual donation to Whole Planet Foundation provides expansion funds for new microlending projects. In 2010, Whole Planet Foundation has plans to support the poor in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, China, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. To recognize the generosity of Change for Change Fund members, Whole Planet Foundation announces new members online, to Whole Foods Market team members and in our e-newsletter. Members are encouraged to promote their support of Whole Planet Foundation's mission to raise awareness for poverty eradication. $1 can make a difference in the life of an impoverished entrepreneur, and $10,000 can change the lives of 50 impoverished families for generations.
Be Green Packaging is the founding member of Whole Planet Foundation's Change for Change Fund donating $10,000 in one year to empower the poor through microcredit. Be Green Packaging's mission is to design, develop, manufacture, and distribute tree free, compostable food container packaging worldwide. Be Green's express intent is to reduce our reliance on forested and pretroleum based raw materials. Making this unique packaging available, affordable, and functional, Be Green will catalyze positive change across many industries.
Several Whole Foods Market vendors have contributed funds to Whole Planet Foundation through the Whole Foods Market Vendor Scanback Program, whereby a portion of a product sold in Whole Foods Market stores is donated to Whole Planet Foundation. We would like to thank the following valued partners for their generous contribututions: Annie Chun's, Back to Nature, Balance Bar, Boiron, Brown Cow Yogurt, Emerita, Evian, Futurebiotics, Garden of Life, Ginger People, Hain-Celestial Group, Honest Tea, Kagome Juices, Method, Natrol, The Natural Dentist, ReNew Life, Shikai, Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, Spectrum, Traditional Medicinals Teas, Volvic.
Each year, Whole Planet Foundation and Whole Foods Market offer a calendar for sale in U.S. stores. Shoppers buy the calendar for $2, receive coupon savings, and 100% of the proceeds benefit Whole Planet Foundation microlending projects. We are grateful to Mambo Sprouts Marketing for coordinating the calendar and the vendors supporting it. We would like to thank the following valued partners for their generous contributions in 2008: Clif Bar & Co, Garden of Life, Kashi Company, Kerry Food and Beverage, Luna Bar, Nordic Naturals, Organic Valley, Rainbow Light Nutritionals and Whole Foods Market. These vendors sponsored the calendar as well as over $13 in coupons, enabling Whole Planet Foundation to raise awareness and over $70,000 for microcredit loans for the poor in communities where Whole Foods Market sources product. *as of December 31, 2008, with each microcredit client supporting on average 5 family members, in the developing world
In 2009, we are honored to receive continuous support from Nordic Naturals, Clif Bar & Co., Kashi Company, Luna Bar and Organic Valley as well as support from these additional partners: Allegro Coffee Company, Barilla, Celestial Seasonings, Earth's Best Organic, Fiji, HALO, Nature's Path, New Chapter, RiceSelect, Oregon Chai, Traditional Medicinals, Seventh Generation, Stacy's and Whole Foods Market. Through their generosity, shoppers received $21.25 in coupons and supported Calendar sales of $72,932. Given the current average microcredit loan size of $205, this support is funding 355 microcredit loans enabling 1,775* people with the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty.
The Green Children Foundation was established by two musicians to support microcredit, education and healthcare. Through sales and donations Milla Sunde and Tom Bevan managed to raise the funds for a new eye care hospital in rural Bangladesh, a project of Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Izzit.org provides over 150,000 teachers and 15 million students with compelling videos and current event lessons. One of their most successful videos is Pennies a Day which features Muhammad Yunus and a special bonus video by The Green Children. Pennies a Day tells the inspiring story of how one poor family - and their entire village - escaped poverty with the aid of small loans from Grameen Bank. Thanks to Pennies a Day, izzit.org teachers and students are inspired to get involved with microlending.
Unitus is an international nonprofit organization which works to reduce global poverty by increasing access to life-changing microfinance services. Unitus seeks out and partners with young, high-potential microfinance institutions and helps them build capacity, attract capital, and achieve exponential growth. Through this leveraged approach, they seek to empower millions of the world’s working poor while transforming the financial systems now left out of their reach. Unitus's portfolio reaches more than 7 million families through 23 partners in India and Southeast Asia, East Africa, Mexico, and South America. With offices in Seattle, Washington and Bangalore, India, their goal is to reach more than 15 million of the world’s working poor by 2010. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Unitus and Jamii Bora Trust in the Nyeri province of Kenya.
Mercy Corps helps people in the world’s toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress. Driven by local needs and market conditions, our programs provide communities with the tools and support they need to transform their own lives. Our worldwide team of 3,700 professionals is improving the lives of 16.7 million people in more than 40 countries. Whole Planet Foundation partners with Mercy Corps in Nepal.
A Glimmer of Hope is a compassionate social enterprise making a sustainable difference in the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. Since 2000, A Glimmer of Hope has helped more than two million people improve their quality of life. The foundation believes justice, equality and dignity are everyone’s birthright and where you are born should not determine whether you live or die. A Glimmer of Hope has developed an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to Humanitarian Aid and Development. It starts at the village level as they listen to community leaders about what they need. Then, using a bottom up instead of a top down approach, A Glimmer of Hope works with those communities to develop a plan and identify projects that truly reflect the true necessities of those communities. Only if the people of these communities are engaged in solving their own issues can the solutions be sustainable. This applies during each of a project’s construction phases but especially after completion when management and maintenance play such an important role in their success. That success is measured in terms of accountability, transparency and performance with photographs, videos, GPS coordinates and inspections by the Addis Ababa-based team all playing an important role in this process. A Glimmer of Hope supports programs in these areas: Water and Sanitation; Education; Health Care; Income Creation; Micro-Finance; Micro-Irrigation; and, Veterinary Clinics. Whole Planet Foundation partners with A Glimmer of Hope in Ethiopia.
Valley Credit Union is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative serving the diverse communities of the Bay Area, and is also the credit union for Whole Foods Team Members in Northern California in addition to over 300 other companies. Valley Credit Union was established for the sole purpose of people helping people, and as a result, we deliver financial services at little or no cost along with free financial education and counseling to members. We’re pleased to help support the mission of Whole Planet Foundation by generating awareness about the foundation among VCU members, and the people in the greater Bay Area. Whole Planet Foundation is grateful for Valley Credit Union's $500 donation to empower the poor through microcredit.
EARTH University was created in 1990 under the sponsorship of the EARTH University Foundation. EARTH University in Costa Rica strives to create leaders for the 21st century - agents of change who will fundamentally shape the direction of environmental protection and development in Latin America and the global community as a whole.
The Whole Planet Foundation in partnership with Grameen Costa Rica is providing opportunities for EARTH students to experience first-hand the power of microcredit. Through a series of programs including lectures, site visits, technical assistance for microcredit clients and research projects EARTH students and faculty will have an opportunity to learn from the microcredit program as well as further their connection and betterment of the local community.
Aldea is a social business that works in collaboration with rural artisans from villages in developing countries to promote beautiful handmade goods that tell a story. Aldea works directly with these artisans to provide access to international markets for their handmade goods, creating additional income-generating opportunities for the artisans. Each Aldea artisan has received at least one microcredit loan funded by Whole Planet Foundation. She, among others from her community, chose to invest the capital from the microcredit loan into her artisan business. With the income generated from selling their handicrafts through Aldea, along with the capital they are eligible to receive from microcredit loans, many artisans will find business opportunities that will prove more lucrative for them than working with us, enabling them to elevate themselves out of poverty. This creates the opportunity for Aldea to work with new artisans, to expand the scope of our mission, and to multiply the impact of microcredit.
Austin Community College students who belong to Students for Environmental Outreach held a 24 hour bike ride called "24 Hours to Empower" Thursday and Friday April 2nd and 3rd, 2009. It was great fun and raised over $1300 which will fund more than 6 microloans empowering 30 impoverished individuals through microcredit. Thank you ACC students and faculty for raising funds and awareness through riding your bikes. A special thanks to Addie Broussard, Andrew Fest and Ashley Shearman for speaking so eloquently about Whole Planet Foundation and the power of microcredit on Fox 7, which Rob Cunningham, rider and organizer, coordinated. We are grateful, as always, to Supplier Alliance for Microcredit partners Stacy's and Seventh Generation for their generous contribution of pita chips and environmentally friendly soap samples for the event and their consistent support of microcredit through Whole Planet Foundation.
We look forward to "24 Hours to Empower- the 2010 Edition" and appreciate Amy Cunningham for teaching her students that anyone can use their imagination and effort to change the world.
Global Vision International (GVI) was formed in 1998 to provide support and services to international charities, non-profits and governmental agencies, through volunteering opportunities and direct funding. GVI is guided by the unique belief that to be successful, volunteer and service efforts must work at the invitation and under the direction of those they are attempting to assist. Through an international network of over 150 personnel in over 30 countries within six continents, GVI continues to support many of the most critical conservation and humanitarian projects around the globe. GVI is a non-political, non-religious organization, which through its alliance with worldwide aid-reliant organizations provides volunteers with opportunities to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development. International partners include the South African National Parks Board, Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund, Jane Goodall Institute, Rainforest Concern and Kenyan Wildlife Service. In 2006, 78% of all volunteer contributions received were spent directly in field.
RESULTS is a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization, committed to creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. RESULTS is committed to individuals exercising their personal and political power by lobbying elected officials for effective solutions and key policies that affect hunger and poverty. Creating the will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty requires working on multiple fronts to resolve complicated issues that keep hunger and poverty in place.
The first Microcredit Summit, held February 2-4, 1997, in Washington, D.C., brought more than 2,900 people together from 137 countries. The Summit launched a nine-year campaign to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, and offer credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the year 2005. That goal was nearly reached and in November of 2006 the Campaign was re-launched and extended to 2015 with two new goals:
Working to ensure that 175 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the end of 2015.
Working to ensure that 100 million families rise above the U.S. $1 a day threshold adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), between 1990 and 2015.
Universidad Francisco Marroquín (UFM) was founded in 1971, as a private, secular, coeducational and nonprofit University. Its mission is to teach and disseminate the ethical, legal and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons. In partnership with the Whole Planet Foundation, UFM is giving their students an opportunity to learn from the Guatemala microcredit program. A number of site visits have been conducted by students to witness the impact of microcredit. Recent projects have included joint research with MIT MBA students and participation in the international SIFE competition.
