To celebrate Halloween(and all month long) we are debuting our Boo! belt.  This cute belt has orange, purple and bright green accents all proclaiming, “boo!” with bright orange buttons.

This cute belt is available for $9.99, five dollars off our normal belt price!  And to celebrate all thing Halooween-y 2 other belts are on sale for $9.99 along with the Boo! belt,

Our solid orange belt:

And our solid brown belt:

All three of these belts are one sale for $9.99 through October 31st.

Our Charity Partner for September is Love146.

From the Love146 Website:(used with permission)

OUR NAME IS HER STORY

“The number pinned to her dress was 146…”

In 2002, the co-founders of Love 146 travelled to South East Asia on an exploratory trip to determine how they could serve in the fight against child sex trafficking. In one experience, a couple of our co-founders were taken undercover with investigators to a brothel, where they witnessed children being sold for sex. This was their experience. This is the story that changed our lives.

“We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them.  These children…raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell.  Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn’t watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl…

“…All of these emotions begin to wreck you. Break you. It is agony. It is aching. It is grief. It is sorrow. The reaction is intuitive, instinctive. It is visceral. It releases a wailing cry inside of you. It elicits gut-level indignation. It is unbearable. I remember wanting to break through the glass. To take her away from that place. To scoop up as many of them as I could into my arms. To take all of them away. I wanted to break through the glass to tell her to keep fighting. To not give up. To tell her that we were coming for her…”

“Because we went in as part of an ongoing, undercover investigation on this particular brothel, we were unable to immediately respond. Evidence had to be collected in order to bring about a raid, and eventually justice on those running the brothel.  It is an immensely difficult problem when an immediate response cannot address an emergency.  Some time later, there was a raid on this brothel and children were rescued.  But the girl who wore #146 was no longer there.  We do not know what happened to her, but we will never forget her.  She changed the course of all of our lives.” -Rob Morris, President and Co-founder

We have taken her number so that we remember why this all started.  So that we must tell her story.  It is a number that was pinned to one girl, but that represents the millions enslaved.  We wear her number with honor, with sorrow, and with a growing hope.  Her story can be a different one for so many more.

For the month of September all proceeds from the sale of the Love146 belt go directly to Love146, as well as 10% of our overall proceeds.  By purchasing this belt, you are helping in the fight against child sex slavery. Go to their site to learn more and get involved.

We love this Charity Belt and Charity so much that we are keeping it for another month!

Order one of these bright, vivd belts and help to provide Haiti with clean water!

After a great launch, we have made it through our first season!  We are gearing up for our Fall/Winter 2010 line, so that means you get to reap the benefits of the Spring/Summer 2010 belts we have left over.

All the belts that we have left are 30-50% off!  Quantities are limited, so order FAST!

We currently have 8 different styles left in stock, to get your favorite before it sells out, order yours today.

We are really pleased to announce that Just a Drop has agreed to partner with us for our July Charity of the Month.  Just a Drop is a registered charity that raises money to build wells, install boreholes and  hand pumps, and carry out sanitation and health education programmes in some of the poorest parts of the developing world.

Our mission is to reduce child mortality by delivering accessible clean, safe water where it is needed most.

Just a Drop is independent, non-campaigning and hands-on.To date we have helped over 1 million children and their families in 29 countries.

Rather than taking a global perspective on the issue, we look at the local picture to establish how we can achieve maximum impact at ground level. This means working directly with other charities, local partners and communities.

SkinnyKidz will be donating the proceeds from the July Charity Belt to Just a Drop’s water projects in Haiti, as well as 10% of our overall proceeds.

We are really excited to share this month’s belt.  The Just A Drop Haiti belt is made of a great fabric of bright, bold colors combined in a floral pattern.

Order one of these bright, vivd belts and help to provide Haiti with clean water!

Match or coordinate your kiddos this 4th without having to break the bank; our Fabulous Fourth belt turns jean shorts and white t-shirts into cute coordinated 4th outfits!

We are proud to announce that this month’s charity partner is Elephant Energy, and show you the adorable new “elephant themed” belt we’ve added to our charity belt collection on their behalf!  EE is a non-profit organization that brings small-scale renewable energy resources to rural Namibians, the majority of whom have no access to power or electricity.
In the agrarian villages of Namibia, many families rely solely on their farms. Farmers in that area often face fierce predators in the night, such as elephants which can stampede a field of crops, threatening a farmer’s livelihood, or lions which pose great physical danger to the farmers themselves.  A farmer’s protection from wild animals, a woman’s safety walking safely at night, and a student’s ability to study past sunset all require light (at a minimum).  Prior to Elephant Energy’s initiatives to bring solar powered light to rural regions of Namibia, paraffin candles were used at great cost, both environmentally and financially, to the villagers.  But with new technologies and renewable energy, that is changing.
EE is a Denver-based NGO that was started by Doug Vilsack, an incredibly impressive lawyer, environmentalist, and humanitarian activist who I am proud to also call my friend.  Check out this Fox News report about EE’s solar light project, and consider donating the gift of light to a woman or family:
Remember, if you buy an Elephant Energy belt this month, 100% of the proceeds will go to this non-profit.  Additionally, 10% SkinnyKidz overall proceeds for the month of June will be donated to Elephant Energy.  SkinnyKidz contributions will be earmarked for a solar light project benefiting women and children, specifically.

Hey SkinnyKidz fans! A quick update, since we’ve been asked by a number of people about our plans to protect our invention. We do have a patent pending! We also have a super smart Harvard attorney on our board of directors…so don’t go getting any crazy ideas;)

Seriously, thank you so much for all the positive feedback; it has been overwhelming and we are thrilled! We love hearing from people and are in the process of implementing your suggestions through the expansion of our product line as we speak. For all of those with kids over 6, stay tuned!!

Our first week up and running was fantastic, and we look forward to more. We will be attending trade shows, craft fairs, and lots of other fun events, so be sure to follow us on twitter & facebook to “stay in the loop!” Thank you again to all our friends, family, and SkinnyKidz supporters for a great launch week! Keep spreading the word…it’s working.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our toddler belts.  We are a brand new company (launch date May1st, 2010), founded by moms of toddlers who are always rocking out “plumber style.”  If you cringe every time your child bends down to collect a stick, you’re in the right place; we’ve got an adorable solution!

Just remember, we are brand new and still ramping up production.  Please give us feedback; we are very interested in your experience with us as a company, as well as with our innovative belts.  If there’s something you feel we could do to improve things, don’t hesitate to drop us a comment or send an email to me or Jena (laurie@skinnykidz.com or jena@skinnykidz.com).

We are super proud of our innovative belt design, as well as our company’s charitable roots.  We hope you’ll take a look at our charity belts page to see the the adorable print we are offering, from which 100% of proceeds will be donated to this month’s charity partner.

Speaking of which, this month’s charity partner is Giving it Back to Kids!  GIBTK is a fantastic non-profit that does wonderful work to improve the lives of families and orphans in Vietnam.  Among my favorites of GIBTK projects is the housing project, through which safe, clean, sound homes are constructed with brick, concrete, and functional roofing materials.  GIBTK also provides medical, nutritional, and educational support for the children living in its sponsored homes for orphans.  Additionally, GIBTK works to keep birth families united whenever possible, and provides the support to young, unwed, pregnant women that is necessary to make that happen.

As many of you may know, GIBTK’s work supports impoverished people in a country that is near and dear to my heart, and Jena’s as well, as we both have children from Vietnam.  I have spoken to Robert, the founder of GIBTK and also the parent of a child from Vietnam, on several occasions and am truly grateful for his work in our children’s birth country.  Please remember that 100% of proceeds from Charity Belts sold this month will go to GIBTK to support their wonderful work in Vietnam.  This is truly guilt-free shopping!!