Hewlko News - 2020 Give Back Guide
We’ve always believed in supporting the communities we live in and giving back where we can. 2020 brought the importance of community to the forefront. During the initial wave of the global pandemic and anti-racism protests we were overwhelmed and unsure of who and how to help.
We researched and reached out to extended community, we met people, got involved and purposefully focused on learning. In further support and in the spirit of the holiday season we have created a new kind of holiday guide. We’ve called it the “Give Back Guide - Shop, Donate, Participate”, it reflects some of the businesses, nonprofits and resources we’ve learned from this year, to help you spend your hard earned dollars and time wisely.
We are committed to continual learning and know we couldn’t possibly cover everything with one newsletter. So please send us a message and share what you've learned, where you’ve donated and where you’ve shopped this year and we will help spread the good word.
We polled our followers on Instagram and asked where they were shopping this year (specifically local and independent shops!) and here’s what they said. We’ve included some of our favourite places as well:
Clothing
Ugly Ass Embroidery - Fun and cheeky embroidered sweaters and shirts. We love her "Quarantine Christmas" sweater.
DinadiNepal - Ethical Knitwear - Timeless, sustainable and ethical knitwear bringing positive social impact to Nepal.
Little Thunder Clothing - Sustainable and ethically made baby and children’s clothing that is functional and ready for play. Patterns designed by Tori!
Camp Brand Goods - The power couple behind Camp Brand Goods has been hard at work for almost a decade, building a brand, designing amazing products and brilliantly curating a selection of goods that will thrill the outdoor adventurer/comfort lover on your list.
Parts + Labor - Ready-to-wear luxe athletic + nostalgic re-invented vintage gems, jewelery, scents + leather accessories. Behind the P+L brand is local entrepreneur Jennifer Mehalko, who we also had the pleasure of working on a project with this year!
Àshàbí - Creating beautiful day to day wear using organic fabric (bamboo) with a touch of heritage designs wholly made in Canada.
Skincare
T'oria Skincare - T'oria Skincare was founded by Sarah Akinfenwa. Sarah developed all recipes for the product line and they are handmade locally.
Food
CJ - Local bee keeper Caitie makes honey and meid! Contact her on instagram to get your delivery!
Our Daily Brett - ODB has built an amazing brand with a few more additions to the food scene in Calgary including Neighbour and Actually Pretty Good Pizza. Along with stellar food they bring a selection of goods that every aspiring chef and kitchen guru will love.
Home goods
Field Kit - Home + travel goods handmade in Calgary, focusing on sustainable and quality materials.
Feast Letterpress - Letterpress prints and cards. (We did a Q&A with Feast back in October!)
Tigerstedt Flea - Vintage clothing and home goods, Japanese Imports, and local makers! Located in Crescent Heights.
Boldfaced Goods - Good gifts for bad people. (We did a Q&A with Boldfaced’s founder Shauna back in May!)
Accessories
Beaded earrings by Bronwyn Butterfield - Cree-Métis artist based in Winnipeg. She is restocking her site tonight!
Coutu Kitsch - Conceptualized, curated, and hand made by a small team of four in Calgary, led by founder and creative director Dorian Kitsch and her partner Kofi Oteng.
Kari Woo - Jewellery designed to wear all day, everyday. Kari is also an AUArts Alumni.
Markets
Calgary Folk Festival Hall-iday Market - Calgary Folk Fest is putting on their first holiday market at Festival Hall December 5 & 6.
Here are a few non-profit organizations we love to support:
Calgary Community Fridge is a mutual aid project aimed at addressing food equity in Calgary by helping those facing financial insecurity access free, fresh and healthy food 24/7. You can donate to their gofundme page, or bring any food donations!
Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids invites and empowers people in communities to feed and care for these kids, so they can grow up to reach their full potential.
Leftovers Foundation is mobilizing the community to reduce food waste and increase food access to those who need it most.
Calgary Homeless Foundation is a registered charity that exists to end homelessness in Calgary. CHF addresses gaps and identifies best practices to continually enhance the homeless-serving system of care.
If you’re needing more resources, here is a link we found with 2020’s Top 100 Rated Charities
Our 2020 Donation dollars were spent with the following charities:
The Legion National Foundation, Wikipedia, Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids, Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, Easter Seals Alberta, The Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, Canadian Angelman Syndrome Society, Community Kitchen Program of Calgary, Closer To Home - Adopt a family
AntiRacism
In our search for actions we could take to address racism in our city we found ABAntiRacismEDU, we worked with them to create a video and photos so they could help spread their message.
We were privileged to learn so much more about our Canadian and global history this year, focusing on racism. We were able to do so because talented writers invested in the following books;
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity - In a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown.
Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
To learn more about Canadian history we took a 12-week online course called Indigenous Canada from the University of Alberta.
Ellen Doty's Annual Giveback Campaign
Four years and counting we have donated our time to help produce album cover artwork, posters and other materials for Ellen Doty's Giveback Campaign. Ellen writes a song with another Alberta artist, and @monogramco roasts a limited edition coffee named after the song. $5 from every bag sold is donated to a local charity, and each bag also comes with a free download of the song.
This year, she wrote the song "Mittens" with Wyatt C. Louis (@vvlouis) and the charity recipient is The Mustard Seed. The campaign will run from Dec 1-31, 2020. The coffee will be available at all 3 cafes in YYC, from @breadland_organic_bakery and Brown Butter Cafe in YEG, or you can order it worldwide shipped right to your door from monogramcoffee.com.
Trends in Corporate Governance Report - Laurel Hill
“Good governance, acting with social purpose, and stakeholder engagement have never been as important as they are at this moment to the success of an organization.” - David Salmon, President. Always a pleasure to work with the team at Laurel Hill on their Trends in Corporate Governance Report. Link to see the report here!
Q&A with Lionel Cipriano, Senior Art Director at Vera Bradley
With the U.S. election coming to a head this month, my thoughts continued to be with our friends south of the border. In November's Q&A we catch up with Lionel Cipriano! Another one of my talented @albertauarts peers who is currently living in Fort Wayne, Indiana and working as a senior art director for Vera Bradley. We chatted with him about his unique career path, immigrating twice in his lifetime (so far), and much more.
Be kind & stay safe!
- Hewlko Creative Direction + Design