Giving with Slumbersac

The happiness and well-being of children are important to Slumbersac. We have a responsibility to those who are less fortunate. That’s why we as a company are involved in a wide variety of projects to positively influence the future of disadvantaged families and children.

We have been a member of B1G1 Giving Inc. since 2016. B1G1 is operated by a social enterprise (incorporated in Singapore) and non-profit organisation (501 (c) 3 registered in the US) with a mission to create a world of giving. Unlike traditional donation models, B1G1 specifically helps companies achieve greater social impact by embedding donation activities into day-to-day business operations and creating unique donation stories.

We have selected projects close to our hearts that we visited during our study trips in 2017 and 2018 in Kenya and Cambodia. All projects give development aid to the poorest of the poor in these countries.

Did you know that you’re doing something good with every purchase from Slumbersac? For every sleeping bag sold we give back, for every sleeping bag sold a certain amount goes to the respective aid organisations.

What is achieved on site through our donations is measured in so-called "impacts". An impact can be, for example, 1 essential vaccination for a pregnant woman, 1 day of electricity for a family or 1 funded school day for a child. At the end of the month, as a customer, you can see exactly which project and how many impacts you have supported with your purchase.

• The product packaging shows which of the following projects is supported by the purchase:
• Planting fruit trees for families in Kenya
• Providing the children in Cambodia with bicycles so they can go to school
• Giving school lunches to disadvantaged children in Kenya
• Ensuring a supply of drinking water for families in Cambodia
• Buying textbooks for poor children in Kenya
• Enabling doctor visits for children in Kenya
• Providing essential medicines for children in Kenya
• Planting trees in the rainforest to save the earth for our children.

For example, with every order you place, we provide a girl in Cambodia with a bike for 7 days. In the rural areas of Cambodia, many children must travel long distances to go to school. More than 10 km is not uncommon. The way to school is a big challenge and takes a lot of time. A particularly large number of girls drop out of school in Cambodia because their parents can’t afford school supplies and uniforms or because the journey is too far or in some cases, the girls have to work or have to take care of siblings at home.

We got to know about this project on our B1G1 study trip to Cambodia. At that time, every participant cycled about 3 km through the sandy paths to the school with a bicycle. On the way, many villagers were amazed and waved at us with a smile on their faces. At the school, we were greatly greeted by the students. Many parents and grandparents were also there because a bike benefits the whole family and can also be used for trips to the market.

On our B1G1 Kenya trip, we visited the Aberdare Ranges school and were able to convince ourselves of the importance of this project on-site. As early as 6:30 am in the morning the children queue up at the school gate waiting for a filling breakfast, which is prepared in the school and handed out before school starts.

The balanced lunch is cooked in the school's own kitchen and distributed to all students. Only about 10% of the parents can pay for school meals, the remaining 90% are financed through the project we support.

In addition to eating, it’s particularly important to provide the children with clean drinking water, which can be guaranteed by wells and filter systems in the school. We give elementary school children in remote rural areas of Kenya access to clean and hygienic water by covering the costs of installing a source of clean water. This will cover the cost of building large water storage tanks and supplying gutters or plumbing, thereby reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases.

For most children, breakfast or lunch at school is the only meal of the day. For the school children, this is another reason to enjoy going to school.

As a partner of Buy1Give1, we have already supported many projects around the world to help people help themselves. B1G1 is the middleman who connects aid projects in developing countries with companies around the world. The services of B1G1, such as the collection and redistribution of donations, control of the aid organisations and reporting, etc, are financed exclusively through the membership fees of the now almost 3,000 members.

Every amount we donate goes directly and in full to the respective aid organisation in Kenya and Cambodia. These are mostly privately operated smaller aid organisations that get involved where larger organisations do nothing due to a lack of infrastructure. That’s also a reason why we work together with B1G1 and donate to them instead of to Unicef or the Red Cross, since a large part of the donated money never reaches poor countries, but is used for administration, marketing, etc in western countries.

We know many of the operators of the aid organisations in Kenya and Cambodia personally and receive regular updates on how the money we donate is used to sustainably improve the lives of the people there.

Every year Slumbersac makes an important contribution to development aid in poor countries such as Kenya and Cambodia. We use our economic strength to help others, especially in times of Coronavirus. We see it as our responsibility not to cut these donations or to stop them, as is, unfortunately, the case in many companies, especially the poorest of the poor are even more affected by the consequences of the Coronavirus than we are in the western world.

We're happy to support Julia's House