Yes, it’s that time again — but do it differently! It’s time to think of gifts again. While we support giving homemade gifts, as well as gifts of special time and attention, sometimes, for some folks, we do want to give some thing. This holiday season, why not try shopping from an Untours Foundation
Here’s a great article that summarizes all the challenges that IceStone has faced, including 5 feet of standing water after hurricane Sandy, and how CEO Dal LaMagna and their employees have come together and gotten IceStone back on its feet! Read it here.
Untours Foundation loan recipient EcoZoom has been nominated as one of 2014’s design pioneers by Smithsonian Design Museum. Their Jet cookstove makes it possible to burn much less charcoal and produce much less carbon emissions, which improves the health of folks on the ground and improves the health of our planet. EcoZoom estimates that CO2
One of the Untours Foundations’ early investments was a small credit union in North Carolina called Self-Help. Small Beginnings Self-Help Credit Union had just about the smallest beginning you can imagine — with $77 in bake sale proceeds! Since 1984, it has grown to 17 branches all over North Carolina. True to its roots and mission, it gives back
The Background: Equal Exchange has been selling fair trade coffee since 1986, and we first supported them with a loan in 1998. We invested equity in 2009 to launch their fair trade banana importing company Oke USA. Equal Exchange/Oke USA supports fair trade cooperatives and bring their goods to the US market, fostering mutually beneficial relationships and environmental sustainability.
The Background: Since 2010, Wash Cycle Laundry has established itself as one of the leaders in combining social entrepreneurship with green business, employing adults from vulnerable populations to work in their bicycle powered green laundry service. It earned “Best of Philly” in 2012 and the Sustainable Business Network‘s Visionary Entrepreneur Award in 2011, among other
The Background: Alan, our near-neighbor of West Chester, PA, is founder and President of SosteNica. SosteNica provides multiple layers of support to Nicaraguan communities, starting with microcredit loans and reaching to hands-on initiatives in sustainable building and agriculture. Additionally, SosteNica is where our Charitable Remainder Trust is invested. For more background, visit our SosteNica page. Alan gave us
What better way to set off on a new adventure than by bicycle? On Sunday, Wash Cycle Laundry began a two-day trip on their signature trikes down to Washington D.C., where Gabe and company launched the first expansion of their innovative Philly laundry business. Read all about it in the Technicl.ly Philly. And in other
Here’s some great news from loan recipient Ecozoom about their expansion into Rwanda! It’s the largest-ever project of its kind in Africa, with an estimated 1,200,000 clean cookstoves being distributed in partnership with DelAgua Health and Life Straw water filters. 600,000 stoves will be distributed free to the needy by the Department of Health and
Check out our post about Philly Compost on the Untours Blog, A Rind is a Terrible Thing to Waste. We explore the serious food waste problem in the United States and how Philly Compost is modeling a business to reduce food waste and our carbon footprint while enhancing our soils and gardens.