At Shop Naturally Healthy Households, we have a strong commitment in giving back to the community and to those that are less fortunate than ourselves. We not only want a healthier lifestyle for you and your family, but also for those who are unable to help themselves.

We are firm believers in 'paying it forward', so here's a brief summary of the charity work we do in the name of this business, our web design business Net Perceptions, and as private citizens.

We donate at least 3% of our profits EVERY MONTH to charity

The School of St Jude is a school in Tanzania, started and run purely on donations by Australian woman Gemma Sisia. From the humble beginnings of a $10 donation to open a bank account and 3 students in 2002, the school now boasts 1300 students, three campuses and boarding for students.

The education at St Judes is free and is offered to gifted hard working students whose poverty would never allow them to get an education otherwise. 150 new students are taken each year, and thousands of applicants travel long distances by foot and wait for hours for the opportunity to apply. Not only does the school provide an education for these children, but it employs hundreds of locals to keep it running and to build the ever expanding rooms and lodgings needed to expand the school each year.

Right now, Shop Naturally are proud to sponsor one of the teachers at St Judes, and as our business grows, we plan to give significantly more money to this worthy charity.

Through World Vision, Shop Naturally Healthy Households sponsor a 10 year old girl from Zimbabwe. A small amount of the profits from each and every order go towards paying for this.

• Did you know there are 900 million people in the world who do not have access to clean water?
• Did you know that 1.8 million people in the world die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (that's more than 3 every minute)?
• Did you know the average Australian uses 180 litres of water per day and that 1 in 5 people in the developing world struggle to find 20 litres of clean water?

When we read these statistics, we knew we had to do something to help. Spend 10 minutes browsing our website for a safe BPA Free Water Bottle and in this time, 34 people will die in the world from unclean drinking water.

Through World Vision, Shop Naturally Healthy Households give a regular monthly donation to the Water Health Life program. Feel good knowing that some of the proceeds from each water bottle that you buy from us will be helping a child in a third world country have access to clean drinking water too.

Kiva are a non-profit microcredit organisation who give out 'loans that changes lives'. 0% loans are provided to Low Income Entrepreneurs who could never get a loan from a bank or be able to afford the interest rates to pay it back. Actor Hugh Jackman is an avid supporter of microcredit.

We only joined Kiva at Christmas 2009, but we plan on frequently adding a new loans and reinvesting the money as the loans are paid back to us.

• Read more about Kiva
• View our lending portfolio

As private citizens, the owners of Shop Naturally Healthy Households have been mentors in the Aunties & Uncles program from 2007 to 2010 when our nephew turned 13 and graduated from the program. In this economic downturn, Aunties & Uncles are desperate for donations to keep this program alive.

If you don't have the time or the capacity to become mentors, please consider a small donation to this wonderful charity to give hope and a brighter future to children on our own shores.

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In our other role as the proprietors of Net Perceptions, we also donate hosting services and time to local organisations to help them promote themselves.

• Gosford Showground
• Soldiers Beach Surf Life Saving Club
• Todays Country 94 One (community radio station)