Creating Clothing With A Conscience

By Kimberly Robertson, Chief Seed Sower, Light of Mine

Every day 25,000 people die from hunger and hunger-related illnesses. One in seven people worldwide go to bed hungry each night. Hunger is the world’s largest solvable problem, and Light of Mine is doing its part to abolish it.

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Volunteers from the Seeding in Guam evaluate donated seeds and develop a plan for a community garden. Photo courtesy Light of Mine

Light of Mine is a clothing company with a conscience. We donate a pound of seed for every shirt we sell. We are passionate about providing people with the tools needed to create sustainable change. By empowering people to help themselves, we are catapulting change into a hungry world.

Light of Mine was a dream long before it was a reality. Upon discovering the pioneer of the One for One movement, TOMS Shoes, I knew I could make a difference adopting a similar business plan. People care and they want to help, but determining how can be extremely overwhelming. We make it simple for people to take action. By buying one of our free-trade shirts, our customers can confidently make a real difference in the fight against hunger worldwide.

What impact can a pound of seed make? A pound of pole bean seeds can yield 300 pounds of beans, a pound of seed potatoes yields 10 pounds, and a pound of rice seed yields 48 pounds of rice when harvested. One-half cup of uncooked rice equals one serving per person, meaning that same 48 pounds should be able to feed 240 people, or a family of four can have three meals a day for 20 days. Light of Mine wants to donate as many pounds of seed as possible through our shirt sales.

Light of Mine utilizes giving partners in order to effectively distribute our seed in the most devastatingly affected areas of the globe. We are currently partnering with the Global Aid Network by donating to its established Seed Program, which provides packs that can feed a family of four for four to six months. We also just finished our first Seeding, working with the Salvation Army on Guam. Not only were we able to donate seeds to their community garden, from which the harvest is donated to a local food bank, but we were able to coordinate training, encourage donations from local businesses and help transplant seedlings.

Want to know more? Visit lightofminetees.com, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or contact our Chief Seed Sower directly at krobertson@lightofminetees.com.