Founded in Seattle, Washington in 2015, the Thrive Causemetics® team expanded to Southern California earlier this year. When several wildfires hit California, we felt a need to support and invest in our new community during this time of crisis.
Many of our own customers lost their homes and their possessions in the Camp Fire in Northern California. In fact, in a devastating turn, the Paradise Fire completely destroyed the town of Paradise, California and everything in it. Meanwhile, our own employees were having to evacuate their homes due to the Woolsey Fire that spread incredibly quickly and was threatening areas up and down the coast. That gorgeous California sky that’s always sunny and cloudless? Nope. The skies were covered in smoke and ash. These fires were raging in our backyard, our office is less than 30 miles from the Malibu Fire, and devastating communities not only in Southern California but in Northern California as well.
If we were going to make an impact, and quickly, we would need to mobilize every member of our staff to create a social and word-of-mouth campaign for wildfire relief. We wanted to do the most good and offer support in the way that would be the most impactful for those who had been displaced and lost everything to the fires. That meant we needed to be able to donate money. Traditionally our mission, and more plainly, how Thrive gives had always been focused on product donations. Knowing this we needed to quickly update and expand our giving parameters to allow us to make a financial donation. We would never abandon our product giving mission, but in this instance, we knew our community needed financial support as well.
In a matter of days, we moved quickly to update our giving mission, rally together brand ambassadors and customers to launch the Thrive for California campaign. We only had two days to get the word out and every member of our team worked around the clock to spread the message that on November 14th, Thrive Causemetics® had committed to donating 100% of profits from every single sale on our website to organizations that would support both affected residents and displaced animals in both Northern and Southern California. As a vegan cosmetics and cruelty-free cosmetics brand, we couldn’t forget our animal friends!
(Thrive For California social campaign image. Design by James Palacios, 2018)
When the day finally came we nervously watched sales, wondering if two days was simply not enough time to pull off such a huge campaign. But then, suddenly - we saw customers buying 2 and 3 mascaras at a time. And even better, customers were telling their friends to do the same all over Instagram and Facebook. Our best-selling cruelty free mascara was flying off the shelves! We upped the challenge and asked our social community to repost our Thrive for California graphic to raise an additional $5 per post for wildfire relief. We were swamped with reposts and purchases. So many messages of love and support were shared by customers to wildfire victims in the comments of their posts. It was amazing to watch everyone come together so quickly and with so much love!
(Team Thrive celebrates $250k raised for California wildfires relief. Photo by Beth Sternbaum, 2018)
When the dust settled we were shocked at what we had been able to do in two days. Thanks to our amazing Thrive community and customers, Thrive Causemetics® will be donating $250,000 to the American Red Cross, North Valley Animal Disaster Group, North Valley Community Foundation, the Humane Society of Ventura County and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. We were and still are completely overwhelmed by the power of giving and the strength of our community to mobilize quickly for the good of their neighbors near and far.
(Susie Cakes created the $250k cookies for Thrive’s donation celebration. Photo by Beth Sternbaum, 2018)
We are so thankful for our wildfire relief partners for all they have done and will continue to do to support affected communities. Check out some amazing quotes from them below:
“The generosity of Thrive Causemetics® helps provide shelter, food and hope, making a compassionate difference for people affected by the destructive wildfires in California.”
- Elizabeth Penniman, Vice President, Communications at the American Red Cross.
“We are so grateful to Thrive Causemetics® for their generous support. This gift will support the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department who work so tirelessly to respond to emergencies, fight fires and to protect our community from disasters.” - Liz Lin, President, Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
"The North Valley Animal Disaster Group is extremely grateful to receive this donation from Thrive Causemetics®. This financial support will allow us to continue to help the animals affected by the horrific Camp Fire. We are currently sheltering over 1600 animals in emergency shelters. Our evacuation teams continue to look for injured animals in the field, and also are providing food and water to animals in the evacuation area per owners requests. Thank you for this much needed financial support.” - Norm Rosene, Public Information Officer, North Valley Animal Disaster Group.
“From all of us at the Humane Society of Ventura County, we are deeply humbled and honored to be a recipient of a sizeable donation from Thrive Causemetics®. Rescuing and caring for evacuated animals from the Hill and Woolsey fires has been a tremendous undertaking for us at the Shelter and this donation will help us with our ongoing efforts for months to come.” - Greg A. Cooper, Director of Community Outreach, Humane Society of Ventura County.
“We are deeply grateful to Thrive Causemetics® for their generous donation to NVCF’s Camp Fire Relief Fund. During our greatest time of need Thrive Causemetics® has shown up with love, care and support. All monies donated will be granted to organizations, shelters and services providing direct support to evacuees. Any monies not spent in emergency response will be deployed during our long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts. Thank you Thrive Causemetics®. Thank you Thrive Causemetics®. Thank you from all of us.” - Alexa Benson-Valavanis, President and CEO, North Valley Community Foundation.
We could not have made this happen without our amazing Thrive Community and every member of Team Thrive staff. Thank YOU for making this meaningful Thrive Causemetics® donation possible and for supporting our cruelty free makeup and vegan makeup. We are so grateful that you’ve chosen to join us in empowering women and help us give back through beauty every day.