I work on the culture team of my company and part of my job is to send our employees fun and meaningful gifts occasionally. To be honest, I'm a bit tired of the mass-produced items that most swag providers offer: put a logo on a bottle opener or slap the company branding on a mass-produced T-shirt. And so a few years ago I was doing some online research on small businesses or nonprofits that produce possibly-customizable gifts...ideally businesses with a mission that is in line with our company's mission. I came across MudGirls Studios and added them to a spreadsheet...and then I actually forget about this list for a while.
Then this year I was looking for a special gift for a certain population in our company and I thought back to said list. I reached out to the email on the MudGirls website and soon after I got a response from Dorrie. (Dorrie later told me that she thought I was spamming her and that I wasn't real.) Over the next few weeks and months, Dorrie and I developed actually two gifts: a custom-branded mug and a custom-branded ramen bowl. I'm very excited to send these to my colleagues next year for their very special work anniversary!
Thank you, Dorrie, for all that you do and for responding to my initial email. I love your organization's mission and I love the work that you do.
Here's their mission:
"MudGirls Studios is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization that empowers disadvantaged women through training and employment. MudGirls Studios helps women transition onto a pathway towards self-sufficiency and out of poverty. We use clay as our vehicle to change lives through their own creations and sales of functional art and aesthetic utilitarian objects. These women gain a source of long-term supplemental income along the way." read more