A case where Helping doesn't mean Donating, The magic of Empowerment

Would you believe that someone had managed to give some, receive some and somehow ended up doing a lot more good than otherwise?

This is actually the case of Thread, a recycling company that purchases tons of plastic recycling materials to spin into fabrics that are in turn sold to manufacturers hoping to create environmentally friendly products and at the same time empowering the people of Haiti.

Last year alone, Thread helped to create $100,000 in income for its Haitian employees. In addition, the company removed over 200,000 pounds of plastic from the country. That is not all; It gained close to $750,000 in seed funding. By next year, Thread is expected to hired more Haitians, recycle more plastics from Haiti environment and start earning a decent profit.

Not bad for a business that has managed to accomplish so much in an environment with so many needs.

Let's recap: Thread is providing jobs to many Haitians. The number of jobs created by the company is not stated; however one thing I know is that injecting $100,000 in the Haitian economy is a big deal, specially when it goes directly to several families. Each salary is likely to turn over several times in each community where the employees live as the local market, the shoe store, the street vendors and all will likely benefit from it.

If all these NGOs really want to help Haiti and ultimately the Haitian population, they need to start thinking about similar transition. From not-for-profit ventures that are designed to tackle social ills, they need to start thinking about a business model for sustainability, turning from providing charity to teaching Haitians how to create jobs. This will eventually make a more lasting effect from their efforts

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