This September, to make World Literacy Day a meaningful day and to remind people the importance of empowering children by offering the education they need, a campaign called #TogetherForChange was hosted by us and Classroom of Hope (referred to as COH) -- a well-known charity that dedicates itself to creating sustainable and comfortable classrooms for better children learning spaces in Indonesia.
Before going into details of this collaboration, we want to say a big thank you to those who have supported this campaign in any way, no matter if it’s through social media or actually purchasing from our site and donating to our campaign. We truly appreciate your love and support!
What is the #TogetherForChange Campaign?
As a woman-owned brand, we deeply value girls’ education and understand how vital education is for empowering them to make their own life choices, we have always been thinking about what we could do to fulfill that mission. Then we decided that there’s no better way to celebrate World Literacy Day than by partnering with a charity that cares about children education in areas where they are more in need to education help.
Classroom of Hope came to our attention by its work on offering sustainable classroom solution for children in Indonesia. Therefore, on World Literacy Day, we together launched a compelling social media campaign #TogetherForChange. Through this campaign, we shared the achievements of COH in helping Indonesian children to access the education they need, and emphasized the importance of education to them by sharing the stories of those children who want to be educated but are unable to access the education. Those stories made many of us think how lucky we are and our hearts are deeply touched by the urgency of ensuring education for children, especially girls who are denied this basic right.
Additionally, we've committed to donate 20% of our profits which was generated through this campaign to COH, which will support their work of building the sustainable block schools and saving the ocean from the pollution caused by plastic waste.
To return the favor of people who support this campaign, we also offered a 25% off discount for our customers. With the good intention of helping children in need and a giving back discount, we are truly grateful for the tremendous support we’ve received through this campaign!
Why We Work with Classroom Of Hope?
After talking to COH and getting to know them in-depth, we were deeply impressed by their contribution to children’s education and their sustainable mission.
Children Education Supports
In areas where conditions are lacking, the first step in ensuring children have access to education is to create a place of learning that can accommodate teaching. In the past years, COH has built hundreds of schools and provided the scholarship for children in Indonesia, Laos, and Cambodia. They insist on doing more to support these children.
(Image by Classroom Of Hope)
Environmental Sustainability
After visiting Indonesia, COH realized there was a serious plastic pollution problem, which not only affects people's food safety but also restricts local development. To help people in Indonesia live a better life they deserve, they incorporated waste cleanup into the school construction. Firstly, they recycle the plastic waste that causes ocean pollution locally, then make the waste into eco-friendly "block modules". Then they use these "block modules" to build lightweight but firm buildings and transform these buildings into safe and comfortable classrooms.
(Image by Classroom Of Hope)
The support for children's education and the persistence of sustainability resonated with us. We view this as a very good opportunity to let us and people who have the same idea move, and turn it into visible action, that’s why we decided to work with COH!
“We love the synergy between our two brands, both dedicated to sustainability and using recycled plastic in our materials. While our paths may be different, whether it's building schools or crafting activewear, we share a common commitment to a sustainable mission. This collaboration has provided an opportunity for us to join forces and amplify the message about our missions to a wider audience. ” Said Nicola, the Co-founder&Creative Director of Classroom Of Hope.
SILVERWIND×Classroom Of Hope Q&A
To get you more details of this campaign and follow-up our donation progress, we invited Classroom Of Hope for a conversation.
1. Could you introduce more about the Block School program?
COH: In the aftermath of the earthquakes that shook Indonesia's Lombok in 2018, our Block Schools Program is an innovative solution addressing the educational needs of the communities affected. Our mission is to restore earthquake-damaged schools using block technology made from Indonesia’s recycled plastic waste. Through the implementation of Block Schools, we don't just create safe and earthquake-resistant learning spaces but also remove 1-2 tons of plastic waste from the environment for every classroom we build.
2. What else do you provide for these children except for building classrooms?
We improve the learning environment, including factors like lighting, airflow, temperature, and classroom size, greatly impacts education outcomes. We are also developing Community Enrichment education programs, including English Language and plastic education, for students and communities at all Block Schools.
3. How the donations generated by our campaign would be used for?
When you donate, you'll be supporting our Block Schools program in Lombok, Indonesia. We make sure that 85% of every dollar you contribute goes straight to the field where it's needed most. The remaining 15% helps keep our operations running smoothly – that's what keeps our dedicated staff employed and our lights on, so we can keep making a positive impact.
4. How can we learn about the progress and status of these donation projects?
COH: We make sure all our donors receive an impact report with detailed information about the school they supported and the positive impact they helped make happen!
Conclusion
Partnering with Classroom of Hope and launching this meaningful campaign, not only let us help children in need of education to fulfill our mission, but also gave us an opportunity to call on more people paying attention to children education in developing countries and our environment. With the huge amount of support we got from this campaign, we’d like to thank you to everyone who supported us again! We want you to know that your action is actually helping the children create a brighter future as well as making our environment more sustainable!
In the future, we will continue to work with charities who share our vision and try our best to save our planet while helping as many disadvantaged people as we can to create a better world!
Furthermore, if you’d like to know more about our charity work and our sustainable practice, please feel free to follow us on Instagram @silverwind.official. If you want to keep supporting the Block School program, please visit the website classroomofhope.org to make a donation. Positive change starts with every choice we make!