Every year around this time we like to send holiday gifts to our key partners, retailers and distributors. It's usually a stereotypical corporate gift like chocolate or a fruit basket, but this year we decided to do something different. We wanted to give a gift that would make a difference and wouldn't be forgotten.

Each company we are sending a gift to will receive a certificate stating that we donated money on their behalf to Heifer International. Heifer is a wonderful, non-profit organization that aims to end world hunger and poverty by giving people opportunities. This can be anything from providing livestock, or education to water pumps. This year our donations to Heifer were able to provide a set of irrigation pumps/training and the gift of clean water.

And the giving doesn't stop there. A key part of Heifer's model is "Passing on the Gift". Each family who receives assistance from Heifer is required to give the first female offspring of their livestock to another family. Not only does this increase the impact by 9 times, but families are able to share the training they receive to other families in their community.

One of the reasons why we chose this organization is that they don't just give out free fish, they teach families "how to fish" by linking communities, establishing agricultural infrastructure and bringing commerce to impoverished areas. They are able to help families help their communities and become self-reliant.

We are a company who started out as a very small kitchen table business. We may not have been given a goat or an irrigation pump, but we received opportunities and training from our community that helped us to a good start. That's why this holiday season, we are happy to "Pass on the Gift" to other small businesses in need.