Sometimes there are people you meet in your life that you instantly get along with because they give off the best energy. When I was in school at Florida State I had class with an extremely friendly and fun cheerleader, KayLeigh. Since college, she has always been a huge supporter of mine even when I started this blog. When I saw this amazing thing that she was doing I was taken back by the level selflessness that was behind it and wanted to support her as well. My friend KayLeigh has started a company called GoodGali with a mission to break the cycle of poverty in Rwanda. "GoodGali markets and sells handcrafted goods made in Rwanda by a group of 34 talented women..." I saw a picture of KayLeigh wearing a beautiful apron made by these women and that is when I found out about the company. I, of course, wanted one of the aprons AND I wanted to spread the word. When I received my products from GoodGali they felt so special to me. Knowing that they are handmade by these talented women, that they came all the way from Rwanda, and that by buying these I was able to support them! We live in a country with so much abundance that I think we forget just how good we have it. Every time I look at these beautiful products I am reminded to be grateful and that I am able to help. I applaud KayLeigh and everyone working with GoodGali. These items are great to buy for yourself (I love the kitchen towels), but they also make such special gifts. If you want to help in any way you can start by supporting them via social media (links below). I asked KayLeigh about GoodGali and how it all got started!

Here is Kayleigh's story of the inspiration behind GoodGali

-----

In June of 2013, my sister and her family moved to Kigali, Rwanda for her husband's new job. During their time there, they have come to know and love a cooperative called More Than Sparrows. This cooperative was created to empower vulnerable women in extreme poverty by teaching them skills that will hopefully allow them to earn enough income to support their families. These AMAZING, talented women have learned to make beautiful, handcrafted home decor, jewelry, accessories, Christmas decorations and more.

Although the women are learning valuable skills, the reality is they only earn income when one of their items is purchased, making consistent demand crucially important. Inspired by their story, my husband (Neil) and I decided to create GoodGali. Our dream is to help empower these 34 women by expanding their market overseas and create financial stability for them and their families. We started with a small investment to host a launch party just before Christmas and were able to reinvest all of the proceeds to purchase a bigger spring line! We've been pleasantly surprised at how fast the items are going and currently placing another order to arrive mid-April.

It has been fun to learn which of the items people love and are most popular! We've been selling on our Etsy shop and in-person at trunk shows, but hope to launch a subscription service soon on our website, www.goodgali.com, where customers can receive 2-3 GoodGali items each month. We believe the subscription service will create the consistent demand our Rwandan partners need (and would make a great gift!). Our hope is to grow GoodGali into a household name and share the gorgeous, handcrafted goods made by the talented ladies of More Than Sparrows.

Good Gali's Etsy store is currently placing another order that will arrive back to the States in mid-April. Our selection of aprons, kitchen towels, & sparrow ornaments on Etsy is almost sold out, so we're going to open a listing where people can pre-order them for this next batch but orders must be in by March 30th.

------

Keep up with GoodGali via social media so that you don't miss out!

I encourage you to please take the time to support this great mission

Instagram: @goodgalishop Facebook: facebook.com/goodgali Website: www.goodgali.com Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/goodgali Email: kayleigh@goodgali.com