When Sandra Enos taught sociology as a professor at Bryant University, she would regularly organize pop-up marketplaces around the holiday season that would feature social enterprises.
These marketplaces were often a big success: At one, 18 vendors sold around $8,000 worth of products and merchandise in less than four hours.
So, when Enos retired from her position at Bryant last year, she wanted to find a way to continue highlighting these businesses that had such a positive impact on society.
Her new venture, Giving Beyond The Box, does just that by selling curated gift boxes that feature products from social enterprises, then donating a portion of the profits to various charities.
“Those experiences [with the pop-ups] gave me the idea that if people had the opportunity, especially during gift-giving time, to know about these incredible businesses that have a positive social impact, they’d want to support them,” Enos told Rhode Island Inno.
Giving Beyond The Box curates boxes by certain themes. There’s a Hope Strikes Back box, which includes products created by Rhode Island entrepreneurs of color. Some of the products in that box are tea from Black Leaf Tea and Culture Shop, soap from Soulita Soap and sauce from Mesa Franca.
Other themed boxes include the Rhode Island Box of Hope, which contains products from Rhode Island business owners, and the Holiday Box of Light, which is full of gifts that create and sustain social impact. The Happy Mother’s Day Box includes gifts from plenty of women-owned enterprises.
Enos said people can custom curate their own boxes for special occasions as well. Each box includes a letter that summarizes each founder represented in the box, so people can learn more about their backgrounds and enterprises.
Enos said she buys all of the products from the businesses at wholesale value, then donates a portion of the profits to charities chosen by the business founders. Some of the charities the company has donated to are the Girls Gotta Run Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Impact Travel Alliance.
Thus far, Enos said she is seeing good demand on the boxes as well as repeat customers: Many people who buy boxes for specific occasions will buy other themed boxes later.
The coronavirus pandemic has prevented her from doing in-person events or pop-ups, but Enos recently held a virtual launch for the company.
“People got the opportunity to talk to these young entrepreneurs of color, many of whom are working full-time jobs, but are still focused on giving back to their community,” she said.“Everybody left very optimistic, I think. A lot of good things are happening in the community they may not have known about.”
Looking ahead, Enos said she is continuing to put together more curated boxes, whether it's one that focuses on children or the environment or issues relating to women. She said she is always interested in speaking to vendors who may want to be featured in a box.
Enos added that she is looking for corporate partners in Rhode Island that may be interested in curating boxes for their business partners or clients.
“Our whole pitch is that this can return purpose and meaning to gift-giving,” she said. “The box would basically say, ‘I know you care about the empowerment of women; you care about saving the planet; you care about welcoming refugees to our community and because we share those values and because I know they are so important to you, we are going to celebrate Christmas by sharing this box.’”
Bram Berkowitz is a contributing writer for Rhode Island Inno.
