In the summer of 2009, 25 year old HALF UNITED founder Carmin Black was bored with her job as a TV news-lady, so she packed up and moved to L.A. to work for TOMS where she traveled the country speaking to young kids about the One for One movement. Inspired by the sheer-genius, and total simplicity of this business model (every time you buy one product, one thing is given to a child in need) she decided to move home to N.C. and plant her roots by starting her own business gives back. Knowing she would need some help getting a One for One company off the ground she called on her younger brother Christian to join forces with her as the creative director and men’s-line designer.
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From the beginning Carmin and Christian knew that they wanted to feed children in need with every purchase made, but wanting to achieve that goal and actually finding a way to do it were two different things. Once they started to look at how many people hunger affects globally they knew they had a much bigger problem on their hand than they had anticipated. Carmin and Christian discovered stats like: “925 million people worldwide suffer from hunger, that’s more than the populations of the U.S., Canada and the European Union combined,” and, “Preschool and school-age children who experience severe hunger have higher levels of chronic illness, anxiety and depression, and behavior problems than children with no hunger.”
The Classic- All GoldThese types of stats prompted Carmin and Christian to rise to action. They called, met with, researched, studied, and eventually found organizations both domestically and abroad that fed kids in need, used education to empower the children, and made serious investments into their lives. Today, HALF UNITED has given away more than 35,000 meals to kids in Wilmington, NC, Fiji, Haiti, Cambodia and Liberia. Every time a HALF UNITED supporter makes a purchase they are personally feeding a child in need! Carmin and Christian are proud of the win-win relationship that their merchandise affords both the giver and the receiver, and as crazy as it sounds these two siblings believe they can and will end the global hunger crisis one swanky t-shirt sale at a time!
Not only are all of our products handmade but our materials are sourced from local businesses and the organizations we are partnered with. We recognize that economic development has a large effect on the global hunger epidemic so we strive to empower business owners and craftspeople to continue with their trade and success.
We are proud to offer products that are handmade in American. One of our goals from the beginning was to never outsource labor but to instead hire our neighbors and fellow American citizens to work side by side with us to produce the best products possible. Our mission is to change the world and that starts with the people in our own backyard.
About HALF UNITED
A dream turned to a reality by brother and sister duo, Christian and Carmin Black, HALF UNITED was founded just 4 years ago on less than $200 and their burning passion to positively impact the lives of people in desperate need of nutrition. By designing and creating meaningful products in-house (at their headquarters in Wilmington, North Carolina) they can not only support their local small business community, but make a revolutionary change in what is means to UNITE. HALF UNITED proves that it is far better to give than to receive, donating HALF of the profits from your purchases, and 100% of your donations, directly towards fighting the global hunger epidemic!
We believe that the world’s current #1 health risk, hunger, is a battle that can be won. Today there are over 925 million hungry people worldwide; over 13% of the population cannot effectively learn or work to provide food for their families. We are prepared to fight hunger like never before, and build the bodies and minds of both children and adults so they can break the cycle of poverty and positively change their communities.
HALF UNITED, a fresh and innovative accessories company with the mission to fight world hunger, announces its collaboration with TOMS and the debut of its new Marketplace. TOMS Marketplace is the first-ever curated platform on TOMS.com, featuring 30 companies and 200+ socially conscious products that share TOMS’ deep commitment to giving to those in need. TOMS Marketplace will feature six HALF UNITED products, including the exclusive HALF UNITED Fighting Hunger for TOMS Marketplace necklace. The collaboration will also feature The Classic: All Gold, The Classic: All Silver, The Honeybee, and The Spade: Wishbone/Seed necklaces, as well as The Barley Bracelet; the products will retail between $32 to $45. HALF UNITED for TOMS Marketplace accessories will be available through their website.
For more information, please visit http://halfunited.com