When talking about redemptive entrepreneurship and the correlation between commercial business and social business to create a business that is for the social good, I think of one of my favorite coffee shops in Wheaton, IL.

My Half of The Sky is the perfect marriage of a coffee shop and boutique in the heart of Wheaton, IL. Started by social justice advocate and entrepreneur, Renee Pollino, Renee wanted to create a business under the realm of Social Enterprise to end poverty and trafficking. The My Half of The Sky website says this about the business,

“Social Enterprises utilize the marketplace to build revenue in order to support low-income artisans, locally and in developing nations, move toward economic self-sufficiency, while allowing value driven individuals to promote sustainability and opportunities to alleviate poverty and prevent human trafficking. Artisans receive fair wages, education, financial and technical assistance, and have safe working conditions, which promotes respectful relationships between business partnerships” (Our Mission).

When you enjoy a steaming cup of delicious coffee or a handcrafted leather bag from My Half of The Sky, a proceed of the money paid for that good is donated to help end poverty and trafficking right here in the United States, but also in countries around the world. The reason Renee choose a coffee shop and boutique was for 2 reasons, one being because through purchasing a cup of coffee the company is able to pay the coffee farmers the fair wages they deserve for their hard work. And second, the goods sold in the boutique are hand-crafted by survivors of human trafficking and by people in impoverished countries, so when you purchase one of those products the proceeds go to helping those people get back on their feet.

Renee Pollino and My Half of The Sky is a great example of integrating the duty we as Christians have to love our neighbor with passion and business. Through providing excellent products and service to their customers while simultaneously providing the opportunity of a better life to people in the community, customers can help make the world a better place by giving their business to My Half of the Sky.

 

“Our Mission.” Home, www.myhalfofthesky.org/about-us.

Lydia Young

Share
Published by
Lydia Young

Recent Posts

Mindset 3-Prototype Everything

Prototyping is a great way to experiment and learn about how to best format your…

5 days ago

The Overlap between Church Size and Business Organizations

Dr. Kelley teaches a course at Grove City College called "Leadership." It goes through loads…

5 days ago

A False Sense of Courage in the Modern Church

In our last class, we had a very interesting discussion about having courage within the…

5 days ago

Vocation In The Kingdom

Vocation is often seen as a big, singular calling. But it is also in everyday…

5 days ago

Pastoral Entrepreneurial Training

In the church context we find ourselves in the 21st century, many pastors identify as…

6 days ago

Thoughts about Church size conversation

After multiply lectures and class discussions regarding church size I found it appropriate to write…

1 week ago