Win a Kate Spade Shopping Spree with eBay's Mother's Day Charity Auction

By Meredith Barnett
April 18, 2011

Women for Women International

Women for Women International: Knitting training for Kate Spade New York in Bosnia

Your Mom has taught you many things: Along with "always say please and thank you," "don't chew with your mouth open" and "don't text at the dinner table," her favorite adages include, "if the shoe fits, buy it" and "always remember to give back." So on a day that's dedicated to celebrating everything our mother's have instilled in us, why not show her you've been listening—at least a little bit?

Starting at 4pm PST today on eBay Giving Works, you can bid to snag Mom a shopping spree from designer fashion and accessories brand Kate Spade New York—not to mention a trip to New York to meet with the company's legendary Creative Director, Deborah Lloyd—with proceeds of the eBay charity auction going to Women for Women International, a humanitarian not-for-profit that helps women in war torn countries achieve self-sufficiency through aid, education and training.

What a way to satisfy her penchant for good works and her girly side, too.

It's all part of a program put together by WorldofGood.com, eBay's multi-seller marketplace for socially and environmentally responsible shopping, to support Women for Women International in honor of Mother's Day.

Said Lonnie Shekhtman, PR Manager at WorldofGood.com. "Women for Women has been a long-time partner of ours and is a what we call a Trust Provider—an organization that promotes social good and that helps us verify sellers, products and producers on the marketplace to foster commerce that maintains transparency, sustainability, economic empowerment, and ethical business practices. Women for Women, like WorldofGood.com is working to provide economic opportunities to people in developing communities, so we want to support them—just like all of our partners in this field—in any way that we can."

The Women for Women International eBay charity auction kicks off today with the Kate Spade auction, including the trip to New York to meet with Kate Spade Creative Director Deborah Lloyd and a $1,000 Kate Spade shopping spree. A partner with Women for Women International since 2005, Kate Spade has been helping to promote micro-enterprises in the recovering communities throughout Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Rwanda and most recently, Afghanistan, through a product line created by women in these regions and sold and branded via Kate Spade.

Women for Women

Kate Spade fashion designs, in collaboration with Women for Women International: Beaded Necklace $95; Raffia Tote $175; Bracelet $45 (images courtesy Kate Spade)

According to Kate Spade's Deborah Lloyd, the relationship between the designer brand and the nonprofit organization has been fruitful for a number of reasons: "One, our consumers are strong, intelligent and compassionate women who want to help and when they find out about our partnership, they always want to know how to be involved. Also, internally, our company really rallied behind this partnership—it resonates with people personally and inspired many of our employees to sponsor sisters of their own through the program.

"There has been so much about this partnership that has been eye-opening," she continued. "I think most of all, I have enjoyed meeting the women in the program and hearing their stories and being witness to their incredible courage and ambition and strength. They inspire me everyday to do better in my own life."

Women for Women International

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Women for Women International program participant.
Photo Credit: Les Stone
Women for Women International vocational skills training class in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Photo Credit: Les Stone
Women for Women International life skills training class in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Photo Credit: Les Stone
Women for Women International Sustainable Organic Farming initiative in Rwanda.

Photo Credit: Les Stone
Kate Spade new york visits the Women for Women International program in Afghanistan.
Left: Bee keeping training in Afghanistan (photo credit: Jenny Matthews)
Right: Parch-e-Yazda, Parwan province Business class - teacher Zubeida Learning numbers (photo credit: Jenny Matthews)

Kate Spade's Deborah Lloyd, a self-described "huge vintage collector" who is often "trolling [eBay] for goodies" (mostly fashion, jewelry, and furniture) notes that eBay was the ideal partner for this online charity auction because the "amount of people that eBay reaches is so vast and varied and I know they’ll want to know more about the work we are doing."

Click here to browse the auction, and continue to check back throughout the month, as more high-profile auctions roll in. Among them:

- An opportunity to meet actress Ashley Judd

- A trip to the UK for a red-carpet experience and meet-and-greet with Meryl Streep during the premier of her new movie, “The Iron Lady”.

The auction also includes a plethora of items at all price points from WorldofGood.com with proceeds benefiting Women for Women International.

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