Post - Christmas Organizing

Also from the January 2011 newsletter, here are a few great tips we found on Post-Christmas organizing

A Special Wish for 2011

Happy New Year! Breaking up our latest newsletter into several posts. This one contains a special wish for 2011

Merry Christmas from Gifts and Graces!

In this blessed season, we celebrate our many blessings and gifts - the gift of family and friends , safety and health; the triumph of having survived numerous trials and coming out stronger in mind and in spirit, in courage and in faith; the gift of everyday and the opportunity to do what we do. Most important of all, we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Thank you for being a part of Gifts and Graces in 2010. Here's wishing you a meaningful holiday season and more reasons to celebrate in 2011. Cheers!

Gifts and Graces is featured in Real Living's December issue

Thanks to the editors of Real Living magazine for featuring Gifts and Graces as supplier of the month. Featured are our candle-making kit in an herb-box inspired packaging, a lavender soy candle, and travel pillows from our Retaso Collection. Grab a copy today and check out our feature on page 16

Jessica Chittaphong's Summer Internship

When I first got the news that I was to be working with Gifts and Graces, I was a senior finishing up college. It was such an exciting opportunity and I was honored to be chosen from a large pool of candidates. I was extremely nervous because I felt inexperienced, but because of the tremendous support from my school and from Greg I decided to just jump in and do the best I can. There were two main activities that I was charged with. The first was focused on the incorporation and advocacy of fair trade within the organization and in the Philippines. It was exciting because I learned so much and I met so many people who are doing wonderful things for their communities. The second part of my assignment was to try and calculate something called the Social Returns on Investments for Gifts and Graces. Like many people this was my first time hearing of the term. It is a ratio that tries to estimate per peso invested how much social good was generated. Before I left for the Philippines I tried to read everything I could find about it. I hit so many walls and was discouraged many times, but I pushed through and came up with an acceptable estimate in the end. I knew it would not be 100 percent accurate, but I was ecstatic none the less because I had created a useful tool that would help Gifts and Graces in the future.

I feel that my time in the Philippines was the perfect way to finish this chapter in my life. I had graduated from university with good overall book knowledge, but I was still lacking in real life experience. I am forever thankful for the staff at Gifts and Graces for showing me a glimpse of Filipino society and making my stay unforgettable with their generosity and quirky personalities. As I begin a new chapter in my life at the London School of Economics, I know I enter it as prepared as possible.

All the best,

Jessica Chittaphong