( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) Celebrity Stylist/Fashion Designer Anita Patrickson and GO Campaign Benefit-Charity to COVID-19 Relief Efforts and Promote Sustainability
ENSPIRE Contributor: Rosa Linda Fallon
After watching masks and gloves piling up in landfills around the world during COVID-19, celebrity designer and founder of Amanu Anita Patrickson was heartbroken. She decided to put her passions for fashion and sustainability to work and do something to make a difference. Patrickson partnered with GO Campaign to create reusable masks to provide a sustainable solution and to benefit the charity’s COVID-19 relief efforts.
“Masks are going to be part of our lives for the foreseeable future, so let’s invest in pieces we can use over and over again,” Patrickson says.
GO Campaign is a nonprofit organization that improves the lives of orphans and vulnerable children around the globe by partnering with local heroes to deliver local solutions. The organization connects donors to local high-impact grassroots projects focused on transforming the lives of children in their communities by providing small grants that have a direct impact on their efforts. GO Campaign helps provide children and young adults with resources and critical services such as clean water, medical care, food and shelter, and other opportunities in Africa and other parts of the world.
Over the past several months, GO Campaign has granted over $165,000 in COVID-19 emergency relief funding to help ensure the world’s most vulnerable children are healthy, safe and fed during these unprecedented times. Some examples of the individual grants the organization has provided include having provided one month of groceries to families living in the Dhavari Slum of Mumbai, providing masks, sanitizer and food to children in Tanzania, and providing food, medicine, rent and supplies to girls in Ethiopia.
Proceeds from the purchase of Patrickson’s masks will be directed to supporting these kinds of efforts. Patrickson said she has a strong passion for environmental sustainability and Africa, and could not be happier to partner with GO Campaign.
Being in the fashion industry for many years, Patrickson recognized the amount of waste the industry produced and also wanted to become part of the solution to create more sustainable fashion options. “One of the biggest issues in the fashion industry is the waste we create,” she says. Patrickson founded Amanu, a fashion brand that is a high end, fashion-forward, and sustainable. The brand offers customized sandals to consumers. Because each pair of sandals is made to order, production waste is minimal.
“We have no waste, we eliminate toxins by using by-products that are vegetable-dyed, and we cut emissions by making everything by hand,” Patrickson says.
Patrickson wanted to partner with GO Campaign because she has seen firsthand the impact they have had in Africa and other communities throughout the world. GO Campaign also aligns well with Amanu’s mission.
“When you boil it down, my brand is all about human connection, choice, and simplicity, which is very aligned with GO Campaign’s mission,” Patrickson said. “They are connecting people to the projects that resonate with them and improving lives one person at a time with no red tape.”
The masks are crafted with organic cotton and can be washed and reused. All proceeds from the sales of the masks will go directly to GO Campaign’s COVID-19 relief efforts to provide food, medicine, and other necessary supplies to low-income communities. Each kit includes three masks and a leather pouch for $125.00. The masks can also be monogrammed upon request with an order.
Patrickson and her team are also working directly with these low-income communities by providing them with tutorials to enable them to make masks for their communities and their healthcare workers. Through her efforts, Patrickson hopes to provide a collective solution by influencing others to be conscious of their consumption and how they are affecting the planet while also supporting disadvantaged communities throughout the world.
For more information on GO Campaign, visit https://www.gocampaign.org
