Crossing Paths With Blessed Lotus

As we travel on this journey called life, it is funny how your path will cross with someone from your past and you know that it was fate that brought you back together.

As Rollins College alum, I receive the regular E-newsletter they send out.  Sometimes I read them and sometimes I don't.  I was happy I read a recent issue that featured a fellow Class of 1996 alum De Anne Wingate.  I knew of De Anne while I was at Rollins as we had mutual friends, but I never knew her.  But it wasn't just the familiarity of her name or the fact that we graduated the same year that caught my attention....it was her story, her journey and her newly-created Foundation that compelled me to track her down and email her.

After wanting something more out of life than what the corporate world was offering, De Anne started traveling.  She returned from India in March 2012, with a desire to help children living in slums around the world receive the best education possible. The seed was planted for her non-profit, Rippled Purpose.  Each time De Anne wore the beautiful tunics from India, someone in America would ask her where they could find one. An idea was born!  Import the tunics from India and use the profits from each tunic to fund Rippled Purpose.  A portion of the tunics are handmade and embroidered by a group of Indian women who are being taught English, how to read, write and basic finance skills.

Blessed Lotus is a retail company that sells tunics and pashminas to generate profits, which are used to fund the nonprofit Rippled Purpose.

After several emails and an exciting phone call, De Anne was nice enough to send me a fabulous tunic.  We plan on working together to help others through our Foundations.

If you are looking for holiday gifts, please visit Blessed Lotus and consider ordering one of their lovely tunics or pashminas.  The proceeds will be more than profits.  They will help create self-sufficiency for women and children in need.