The Women's Bean Project: Give the holiday gift that gives back

November 9, 10:50 AMDenver Jobs ExaminerAndrew Hudson

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Are you looking for a terrific holiday gift for a friend, client or family member?

The Women’s Bean Project (WBP), one of Denver’s most innovative and entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations, has a complete line of gourmet food products and gift baskets that make wonderful holiday gifts. 

You can shop at their online store and order prepackaged gourmet soup and chili mixes, bakery mixes including corn bread and cookie mixes, coffee, dips, candy and new this year, spectacular handmade jewelry.   The WBP also creates beautiful gift baskets that can be delivered.  All orders can be shipped anywhere in the United States and are processed within two days of the transaction.  To shop online, click here.

In addition, on Dec. 4 - 6, the Women’s Bean Project will be hosting their annual Holiday Shopping Fair to at their headquarters located at 3201 Curtis St. Denver, CO 80205.

I had the opportunity to tour the WBP last week and meet with its Executive Director Tamra Ryan to deliver a $1,500 donation from AH Jobs List that was raised from this summer’s job seeker seminar “The Reinvent Event.”

The Women's Bean Project is a social enterprise that offers a transitional job in gourmet food manufacturing designed to provide immediate income, arrange support services to overcome barriers to employment, and teach the job readiness skills needed to get and keep a job. Program participants come from backgrounds of chronic unemployment and poverty, and the program helps them develop the work and interpersonal skills needed to function independently in the workplace and community.

Women's Bean Project does not hire women to make and sell bean products.  They make and sell bean products to hire women.

The women hired at the Bean Project have histories of poverty and unemployment; they lack hope and self-confidence; most do not have a GED or high school diploma; most are single mothers and have been on public assistance; many are recovering from experiences with substance abuse and incarceration.

Women produce the goods that are sold nationwide as they develop the work and interpersonal skills needed to function independently and effectively in the workplace and community.  The tools gained during their stay at the Bean Project empower women to create better lives for themselves, provide their families with hope, and contribute to a stronger community.

To find out more about the Women's Bean Project, go to www.womensbeanproject.com. 
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