It's the year of the socially conscious holiday gift and there¹s no better place to find one than Helping Hands Rewards.
Founded by Michael Arkes, CEO of Hinda Incentives, Chicago, this nonprofit connects social-purpose businesses with the incentive market. Among the products featured at this year¹s Motivation Show, held in September, were soaps and bath products from The Enterprising Kitchen, which provides workforce development and support services to lower-income women; chocolates from Divine Chocolates, whose mission is to improve the livelihood of small cocoa producers in West Africa by establishing their own chocolate brand; and Mary Fisher, whose Abataka Collection features woven bracelets hand-crocheted by African women who receive all profits from the sales.
Helping Hands' 2009 holiday gift cards allow recipients to choose among several gifts from these and other merchants. The cards can be customized and are available at two price levels: $18 to $37 and $32 to $60.-Barbara Scofidio