We love our candles and we know that many of your do too. Our candles came about from a little idea to create something that is not only lovely to use and look at, but also does good.
A few years ago Lee and her hubby packed up their three kids and moved to Bali for two years. It was an awesome adventure and a fabulous experience for everyone. While they were living there Lee started to volunteer with a wonderful organisation call Bali Street Mum's Project. Bali might look like a beautiful island full of happy and beautiful people, but there are many people who live away from the bright lights of Kuta and the swanky hotels of Seminyak that are living in poverty. These people struggle to provide food for their families and a safe place to sleep at night. Bali Street Mum's Project provides work opportunities, education & health care for mothers living or begging on the streets.
One of the work opportunities some of the mothers were taught was collecting used glass bottles from cafes, restaurants & bars and cleaning, cutting and sanding them into glasses. The mum's would then sell them as drinking glasses at local markets to earn a small income.
After moving back home, Lee wanted to continue to support the great work of Bali Street Mum's. In 2018 when she opened Gather + Harvest, she knew that she wanted to somehow use and sell the glasses to help support the mum's she had met while living there. After experimenting for many month with different sizes and shapes Lee came up with the idea of converting the glasses into candles.
Initially Lee worked with just one Mum, but today Gather + Harvest helps to provide stable and regular income for 15 mum's. That's 15 less mothers and their children who no longer have to beg on the streets of Bali or pick through piles of stinking rubbish to find things to sell or use. The mum's and their children are also provided with an education and health care.
We love the difference that one simple candle can make to a woman's life and we hope to keep expanding this project.
