Philanthropy Continued

One of the boutiques that served as my inspiration for Zoe is Sonia Says of Athens, Georgia.  They have a motto "Looking good while doing good."  If Zoe can accomplish the same for our customers and community, I would be very happy!

In one of my earlier posts this month, I mentioned the Charity Day held by the Old Town Boutique District.  I chose to have Zoe participate as well by donating 10% of Gross Sales to the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria.  I choose AWLA for two reasons - one being that so many of my customers have pets which are very important to them and my first pet upon moving to the DC area out of college came from AWLA (Muffin).

This week, I receive a very nice welcome note from the Executive Director of ACT for Alexandria, a Community Foundation.  They recently held an event during the Mother's Day weekend called Spring for Alexandria which encouraged donations and volunteerism throughout Alexandria.  I've contacted him to find out how Zoe could be more involved in the community.

I also met with a representative from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce to discuss holding a women's alumni event at Zoe.  We are currently targeting July for the event.  By keeping alums involved with the University, we establish a connection that can then turn into continued to support for the School and University, whether it be monetary or mentoring relationships.  Plus, as a bonus, I get to introduce Zoe to more people!

McIntire had a nice write-up for Zoe in the Alumni Notes in their May 2011 newsletter.  They took some of what I said in an email to them and included it in the blurb.  I was pleased with the results and have already heard from some of my classmates who didn't know I had taken the leap into business ownership!