Early on in building Festival Trading Co, we decided we wanted to give back - it’s long been a passion of ours to be able to contribute in a meaningful way to organizations who selflessly devote themselves to improving the welfare of others. We hope to someday be able to start one such organization of our own because we love to share the love! There is no greater reward than bringing a smile to someone’s face, or a wag to a dog’s tail. Kindness is truly its own reward.

So, to let you get in on sharing the love (you know you want to!), we’ve decided to donate 10% of our proceeds to a different organization every month – organizations whose missions we feel really resonate with us. Of course, we welcome suggestions and ideas from our fabulous customers!

After much research; many suggestions from our wonderful friends and families; and lots of soul-searching, we’ve chosen our first organization to give back to: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In the world of pediatric cancer research, St. Jude is unparalleled - the advances in cancer treatment (as well as treatment for other catastrophic childhood diseases) made at this hospital have been arguably greater than any other institution out there. Since being founded 50 years ago, its research into advanced treatment has helped push the survival rate for childhood cancer from 20% to over 80%. And, if that’s not enough, St Jude freely shares every breakthrough it makes with the medical community. But that’s not why we chose to give 10% of our proceeds to them. We chose them because even though St. Jude is completely funded by individual contributors, it gives treatment completely free of charge - which is unheard of. Treatment, travel, housing and food for the patients and their families are all taken care of because, in the words of the hospital, “all a family should worry about is helping their child live.”

We’re speechless.

Look, cancer has the potential to affect everyone it touches. Both the founders of your beloved Festival Trading Co. have had close family seriously affected by cancer. It’s personal for us. Several of our friends and family members have been broken by cancer – sometimes without ever being able to patch the holes left behind. There is no greater frustration than to see someone you love be helpless to cure or even comfort their child, mother, or sister. There is no greater heartbreak.

Cancer affects everyone it touches. And we found, through much struggle and hard times, that the only way to alleviate the pain is to share the love.

This is exactly the mission of St. Jude hospital (although maybe they don’t say it in those words). Its selflessness and devotion to increasing survival rates of pediatric diseases embodies exactly what we mean when we say we love to share the love.

So help us help St Jude Children’s Research Hospital continue its incredible mission. We’ll give 10% of all our proceeds to St. Jude for the months of April and May, and the more we can give, the better.

Alright. Much love to you guys, thanks for everything!