Whenever I visit the Small Steps Project website and read what the team have been doing or look at their videos I feel so inspired by their commitment (and end up donating). The latest project for Small Steps is a Celebrity Shoe Auction being held in London on October 12th. Don’t fear however, you don’t have to live in London to bid for a pair of famous shoes.

Small steps project is a humanitarian charity that started as a small project delivering Wellington boots to the children on the biggest dump in Cambodia. After the success of the first project and public donations it grew to delivering not only boots but school shoes to encourage children off the dumps and into education in both Cambodia and Nicaragua. However it became clear that in order to deliver more projects as the charity discovered more dumps and wanted to raise more money for clothes, hygiene kits and school supplies more money was needed.

That was when the founder, Amy Hanson, a former showbiz reporter decided to ask every celebrity she had ever interviewed to donate a pair of their shoes to raise funds to help even more children. Little did she know that so many celebrities would take part and now, a year after the charity became registered she has collected over 60 pairs. You can bid for Sienna Miller’s, Sarah Jessica Parker’s, Joanna Lumley (Ab Fab baby), Rachael Weisz, Chris Noth (aka Mr Big) and Colin Firth – and that is just a few!

12 will be auctioned, including kate moss’s stilettos at a star studded fundraising event at the royal society of medicine at 7pm on October 12th, alongside the premiere of the new Documentary and public tickets are available this week and an online auction will follow.

You can bid online. Click here.

Small Steps Project Intro from Amy Hanson on Vimeo.

Grasshoppers Makes Kids Jump For Joy!

There are several reasons to check out Grasshoppers.  Not only is the beautiful collection of hand-knitted jumpers and cardigans are made from 100% cotton so they are super soft and light weight for Spring and Fall, but every time you purchase a piece from the range you will be supporting a community of disadvantaged women in rural South East  Zimbabwe.

All the women who hand knit the jumpers are stakeholders in Grasshoppers and profits from the sales are re directed back into the business for further development and growth and into their community to provide income generation and poverty relief to over 200 women and their families.

So not only will your little man or little lady look tres chic in a cable vest or knitted hooodie, but you will be doing something wonderful for a great community at the same time.

Check out their full range of 100% cotton hand knitted jumpers & cardigans, blankets, throws & cushion covers, bags & beanies, and best of all, kids toys!

www.grasshoppersjumpers.com.au

You know we love to write about ethical products at MiniHipster and whenever we read or see something new that is related to kids fashion we just want to share. Toto Knits is our new find.

Founded by Erin Brennan Allan, Toto Knits is a line of organic cotton knitwear ethically made by a group of single mothers in Kenya. Working closely with Mary Wambui- who oversees the knitters- Erin designs fun and funky pieces that children will love.

The knitters are paid by the piece which allows them to work as much or as little as they like.  It’s all about putting family first- especially for moms. All the products are made from locally grown organic cotton and they use bio-friendly dyes.  Each piece is made with love and signed by the knitter. The knitters are single mothers often marginalized due to lack of education or opportunities.

Here are some of the lovely women knitters….

Have a go – you can pick your style, colours, buttons and even a funky hand-crocheted accent to make your own bespoke sweater. Fun for creative little ones (and big ones too!) to try their hands at fashion design.  We made up a couple of designs for ourselves:

The “SAVE JAPAN!” project was established immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake to support the affected parts of the country by providing information on area-specific relief efforts. UNIQLO is working with the Condé Nast Group—a supporter of the “SAVE JAPAN!” project and the publisher of VOGUE JAPAN and GQ JAPAN—to create T-shirts featuring messages of encouragement from artists around the world. UNIQLO will donate the profit of approximately 100 million yen (Approximately £750,000) to the Japanese Red Cross Society through the sale of these T-shirts at its stores around the world, to back recovery efforts in northeastern Japan.

Some of the designs have already sold out (Lady Gaga and Karl Lagerfeld) but there are still plenty of celebrity creations to choose from….

Designs by Alber Elbaz, Victoria Beckham and Cyndi Lauper

Uniqlo

GUCCI’s Spring Summer collection has been designed by Creative Director Frida Giannini and entirely produced in Italy by Gucci’s suppliers. The collection for girls and boys is divided into two age ranges, from 0 to 2 years, and from 2 to 8 years, and comprises clothing, shoes, accessories, gifts and sunglasses.

Gucci is proud to make one million dollar donation to UNICEF’s “Schools for Africa” initiative to celebrate six years of partnership and the launch of Gucci Children’s Collection, because education is a gift forever.

She may not be a celeb mom yet, but Fergie definitely understands the importance of providing better opportunities for kids.

That’s why the singer and her fellow Black Eyed Peas have teamed up with children’s clothing brand, P.S. Aéropostale to design a limited-edition charity tee ($10) that will benefit the group’s Peapod Foundation, which helps provide shelter, food, healthcare and music education to kids around the world.

When you buy the T-shirt in stores, you’ll receive a free CD of three exclusive Black Eyed Peas songs. Added bonus: All of the proceeds will be donated to the Peapod Foundation.

Want one for you and your tot? Get store locations and more details at aeropostale.com.

source: people.com

This is the Holiday season, and  Small Steps is about to leave for the biggest dump in Central America: Le Cheruca, Nicaragua as well as doing projects in El Salvador and Guatemala. As we all spend a fortune on fabulous food and loads of presents Small Steps is asking us to consider donating to this project so that they can provide essential food and aid and shoes to children who have nothing, no parents, no presents, no turkey.

Can you believe, that for £15 / $20 US, Small Steps can provide each child with shoes, food, a mosquito net and a hygiene kit for Christmas. Every penny you donate will go straight to the poorest and most desperate children on the planet. Small Steps has just over 1200 friends on Facebook and if each friend donates this amount, they will be able to provide essentials to every child on two rubbish dumps.

Keep A Child Alive is the charity organisation co-founded by singer Alicia Keys to help children in Africa and India living with AIDS/HIV, survive and live a full life.

Buy a Life is their most recent campaign to inspire people to get on board and donate. Celebrities, Katie Holmes, Kim Kardashian, Elijah Wood, Usher, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and many more have sacrificed their digital life to help raise $1 million dollars for Buy A Life…..

So exactly what is Keep A Child Alive (KCA) and Buy A Life?

There is a profound difference between living and life. Living may extend time for another day. But life is far more than sleeping and waking. Life is more than merely existing. And, although it would be easier, life cannot be bought in a pill. That is why Keep A Child Alive buys more than just the pills needed to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. It buys the essential nutrition, shelter, support and education to help ensure those pills are taken properly and effectively. It buys the things we all take for granted, but that make all the difference. A bed. A roof. A ride. A book. A smile. KCA offers children, their families and entire communities a shoulder to lean on and a heart that beats for them. Because KCA believes they can do something far bigger and better than buy the ability to live. They can buy the dignity that is life. They can buy compassion. Buy love. Buy the cure. Buy life.

Buy Life Now

The Boot Campaign is a simple initiative focusing on U.S. citizens’ purchase and sporting of authentic military boots, and now the little ones in the family can get involved. Along with the signature Altama boots for adults, the Campaign has launched a new Li’l Boots line for the youngest military supporters.

“The Boot Campaign decided to launch the Li’l boots line when we realized that many of our supporters were the children of the families who are directly affected by deployment,” explained Boot Girl Heather, who serves as a Volunteer and Events Coordinator for the Campaign. “We also want the children of our armed forces to see that their peers recognize that those parents are heroes that all kids want to be like and appreciate.”

Available in children’s sizes 1-6 (and select half sizes), the kids’ boots also come with information telling the story of the organization’s Texas beginnings and U.S. military focus. The first one to sport the Li’l Boots was Boot Boy Drake, who is featured in the Campaign’s official video. Drake developed a YouTube following with his rendition of Randy Houser’s “Boots On,” where he also played air guitar.

“Our friend and co-author of the title track ‘When They Come Back’ on our compilation CD, Tim Johnson, knew his parents,” Heather said. “Before we knew it, Drake traded his toddler boots for our Li’l Boots, and he was rockin’ out to our campaign video.”

A perfect addition to the Campaign’s current products, the Li’l Boots give the children in military families a way to also express their support for the U.S. soldiers and veterans.

”We want our L’il Boots to spread the word that saying ‘Thank You’ is the cool thing to do as our armed forces come home.”

The Li’l Boots are $45 with a percentage of the proceeds donated to charity. They can be purchased on www.bootcampaign.com

Joah Love is a lifestyle brand that specializes in fine children’s apparel that’s fashion-forward, yet comfy for little ones and practical for parents. The seeds for Joah Love were planted more than a decade ago when designer, Ahyoung Kim and photographer, Joy Marie Smallwood first met. After several years successfully pursuing separate careers the two finally made the collaboration official and started Joah Love in 2007.  Kids fashion mag Earnshaw’s recently named Joah Love one of the nations’s hottest-selling new kids brand. (nice one ladies xx)

Joy Marie Smallwood and Ahyoung Kim

Besides being quite an edgy brand for kids, the range is made with comfort in mind and each piece is made with buttery soft fabrice, and treated with extra love to make them even yummier!

In addition to their ever popular range, Joah Love also helps to fight the injustice around the world and is working with OmniPeace by donating the profits from their special OmniPeace tees for kids. OmniPeace has quite the celebrity following with grown ups and children.

Heidi Klum's daughter Leni wearing a Joah Love OmniPeace tee