Humanitarians have sometimes been accused of wearing their hearts on their sleeves, but these days, some are literally sporting their favourite sentiments on their wrists.
Good Works Make a Difference is a California-based company that markets leather bracelets with positive messages, with 25 per cent of profits going to good causes.
And Burnaby-based Weaver Distribution has the goods, or rather, the Good Works.
The local distribution company, which started in 2007, is the sole Canadian distributor of the good-hearted bracelets, some of which are made specifically for corporate or non-profit charitable initiatives.
In September, Weaver Distribution brought the bracelets to the Canadian Country Music Awards.
"It was awesome," says Jessica Weaver, co-owner of the company.
Some of the performers playing at the event wore the bracelets onstage, she adds.
Terri Clark, who won Musician of the Year, took a bracelet, as did many other musicians, including Paul Brandt and Chantal Kreviazuk.
The bracelets were part of the swag offered to performers and presenters in the gift lounge, according to Weaver, who co-owns the business with sister Ashley Weaver-Wanono.
The company in charge of gathering donations for the lounge - Vancouver-based Front and Sentre Communications - sought the Weavers out, Weaver says.
"We were happy to attend," she adds.
The Weaver sisters attended fashion school together and enjoy working with each other, she says.
Business is in the blood, it seems, as their father also had a business in Burnaby, according to Weaver.
Both sisters have worked with and volunteered for non-profits in the past, so the charitable element of the company really appealed to them, she says.
"We're really enjoying doing what we love," Weaver says. "I think it's the giving back that means the most to us."
In October, Weaver Distribution worked with the Breast Cancer Society, distributing pink bracelets to be sold at 16 locations in Canada, including Blue Ruby at Metropolis at Metrotown. A quarter of profits went to the society.
The sisters held a flash mob event in Vancouver as part of the awareness campaign.
Weaver Distribution is also running a Share-a-Bear campaign until Nov. 7, to collect teddy bears for foster children. The company hopes to collect bears for more than 1,000 children.
The bears are being collected for the 13th annual Day of the Child on Nov. 13.
Bears can be dropped off at the company's head office at 113-3060 Norland Ave. in Burnaby until Nov. 7.
Good Works bracelets are available for purchase on the website, as well as through retail partners, according to Weaver.
For more information, go to www.weaverdistribution.ca, or check out the company on Facebook at Weaver Distribution Agencies Ltd.
