Supporting Small Businesses
Saint Francis Animal Sanctuary and Rescue is a small non-profit organization located in North Georgia. Over the years we have rescued and care for both domestic and farm animals in need. In early 2020 we decided to make our sanctuary and rescue official by creating our non-profit organization. Our plans included conducting fund raising activities here on the farm and sharing our little slice of animal heaven with the public. Then COVID hit and impacted our plans, limiting our ability to open up to the public. So many small business are struggling to keep their doors open and operating during these difficult times. Large companies like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc, have been experiencing large profits as people are shopping more from home. Small businesses need our help right now, so it's important to shop local and offer our support. The other benefit of doing business with small companies is that most of the products are made in America, or the services are supporting Americans. If you do your research, the majority of the products being sold by the larger corporations are coming from China. Competing with these large conglomerates is not easy. There is so much to learn about online marketing and advertising, quite frankly, I've been drinking from the firehose of data and resources. Facebook and Instagram are one and the same, and they do not make it easy to do business. The number of hoops they require you to jump through and the lack of personal attention or responsiveness is frustrating. Brick and mortar establishments are dwindling and many businesses are moving to online, so these social media conglomerates are definitely seeing their profits increase in this new era. The consumers have the power to make a difference and shift the tides from making large corporations richer, to supporting small businesses, buying local, and supporting Americans. I started creating and selling my jewelry a little over a month ago, and I have been blown away by the amount of support that I've received from my friends. I have also received a few orders from new customers, which I hope will expand in the near future. The last few trips to the feed store have been fully funded from my jewelry sales. All of the jewelry on our site is handmade and one hundred percent of the profits go towards feeding the animals here on the farm. If you're looking for something unique or custom, please browse our collection. I'm adding new pieces weekly. There's only ten days left til Christmas, so please go out there and support your small businesses and give gifts that have true meaning behind them.
