As many of you may notice, there are a few new trends pop-ping up around FHS this year. Leggings, scarves, the occasional Carhartt, and TOMS. TOMS, which stands for “shoes of tomorrow,” is becoming a more popular trend among today’s youth. Started in 2006 by creator Blake Mycoskie, TOMS has already donated over 1 million pairs of shoes to children in 40 countries. For every pair of shoes bought, TOMS donates a pair of shoes to someone in need. TOMS is a great cause that is defi-nitely grown in popularity at Freedom this year. However, TOMS isn’t the only good cause out there. There are a number of different charity organizations that do amazing things for the environment and people in need. Unfortunately, because these organizations don’t have as much money as big companies, they don’t receive as much publicity. Sevenly, for example, is a wonderful private organization. Each week, they pick a different organization that needs help and create a t-shirt, sweatshirt and bag design specifically for that charity. Seven dollars of your purchase goes to that charity. They have donated $1,516,282 to charities around the world so far. Sevenly.com is wonderful because they create something new each week for a great cause. Another worthy charity, Project 7, is an organization that creates seven different products for seven different causes. Heal the sick, save the earth, house the homeless, feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, teach them well and hope for peace are the causes that they highlight with their campaign. Each of the Project 7 causes has a different product to go with it. Bottled water, mints, gum and accessories are just some of the products they have that help their causes. So far they have planted 2,709,246 trees, fed 1,023,695 people, provided 30,882 malaria treatments and much more. Some of their products can be bought in places like Walmart and Target and are incredibly delicious! If you’re looking for something more environmentally beneficial, why not try Pura Vida? Pura Vida is a website that started by selling hand-made bracelets by artisans in Costa Rica. Each bracelet that is sold donates 1% back to the Surfrider Foundation and also provides a job for a local artisan in Costa Rica. This organization is dedicated to cleaning up the beaches around the world and keeping local artisans and their families fed. One percent may not sound like a big contribution, but they now sell over 20,000 bracelets a week. I have bought things from each of these websites and absolutely love all of them. They all have high quality products and a good cause behind them. So the next time you are out shopping at American Eagle or Aeropostale, please consider trying some of these products instead. They all go towards a good cause and they make great gifts!