Pay day, cha-ching! Who doesn’t adore a hefty paycheck after long days of work? Because you know what that means… shopping! But before you drop all that cash, think about how your shopping addiction could help feed others.

Photo: Courtesy of FEED. FEED 1 Bag, FEED, $60. Here’s what we’re talking about: clothes for a cause. More and more clothing companies have started giveback programs. These programs are focused around the selling of clothing products, and the sale of the items puts money toward a notable cause. FEED is an organization that solely sells bags, T-shirts, and related items for the purpose of donating the proceeds toward feeding the world. The bag we showed you up above has the number 1 on the reverse side. This means each “1″ bag will provide one child in Africa school lunch for a year through the United Nations World Food Programme. American Eagle jumped on the FEED bandwagon, selling their unique bags starting last February and Bergdorf Goodman did in January.


Photo: Courtesy of CommonThreadz. ‘Orphan Collection’ by Nhlakanipho Gumede, CommonThreadz, $38. CommonThreadz is another company that focuses on helping the needy. They pinpoint their cause on assisting orphans in under-developed countries like Africa, Haiti, and Nicaragua. There are three shirt collections CommonThreadz sports. The Oprhan Collection features designs by orphaned children. Each T-shirt purchased from this category will feed a child for one month. The Signature Collection has designs from artists all around the world and with purchase promises a school uniform to a boy or girl in South Africa. Finally there’s the CelebriTee Collection with drawings by celebs. Buying their shirts guarantees a school uniform to an orphan in Africa and a $5 donation to the celeb’s charity of choice.


Photo: Courtesy of Sseko. Malindi Sandals, Sseko, $49. Sseko Designs is a fairly new company, its founder Liz Forkin Bohannon was a college grad back in 2008. She created the company after a visit to Uganda and meeting a group of extraordinary women from the Cornerstone Leadership Academy, a school for females. In Uganda, there is a nine month gap between secondary school and university, a time intended for youth to earn money for their college education. Sseko’s purpose was to provide a healthy working environment for women, a place where the could gain all the money needed for schooling. To do this, they fabricate the sandals on the website. Proceeds from sandal purchases go directly toward helping these women with their university tuition. (Bonus: the sandals can be tied so many ways, you’ll never grow tired of them!) And of course, we’ve talked about the great things TOMS does as well. You shouldn’t be short of finding a worthy cause to purchase your clothes from. These four companies are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to helpful organizations. Do your research and donate!