The spirit of giving has been within us since the very beginning of the business. It is something that makes us feel good as it is a part of who are and always have been. On this Giving Tuesday, we, at Oneka, want to share what giving means to us.

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When Stacey and I were starting the business 12 years ago, we both had to work outside jobs to live for the first 3 years. But still, giving was frequent. Of course, back then, the gifts were much smaller. But it was still important for us to share abundance with our community.

Since then, giving has always been part of our practices. And it goes way beyond Giving Tuesday; we give something each month of the year to organizations where our customer base is located, whether it’s in Quebec, Canada or the US.

In 2020, with the privilege that we have of being an essential business, we have stepped up our commitment to sharing the abundance and we are often scolded for not sharing our giving initiatives.  

But we do not give for the world to know, we give because it is within us, it makes us feel good and, mostly, it helps people. However, we have come to realize that not sharing our giving initiatives robs our customers the satisfaction of knowing what they are contributing to with each purchase.

Indeed, Oneka’s ability to give stems from the support of every single purchase from our customers. The real enablers of these giving initiatives are our customers and we want to acknowledge and thank each one of you for the immense support.

We also want to thank the people who receive as, in a society where we are often taught to be strong no matter what and to keep our problems to ourselves, receiving can be a very vulnerable act.

We would think that somebody in need would automatically seek or accept to receive help. However, it is not always the case, and lot of people have a really hard time doing it even if they really need it. And that’s why it is important for us to acknowledge the courage of those being vulnerable and asking for and receiving help. Because there is no such thing as giving if there is no receiving.

To conclude, we want to acknowledge our deep deep privilege of having gone through 2020 as an essential business and our ability to have the satisfaction to give as part our of DNA.

We wish everyone a happy Giving - and Receiving - Tuesday!

Philippe & Stacey

To find out about all of our donations for 2020, see this page.