Valentine's Day is one of those funny holidays. You're never sure you're going to get it right. Does a gift say too much? Too little? Where is the tipping point between sweet gestures of love and caring and over-the-top consumerism?
Here are some local gifts that we think do it-not only do you show that you care, but your gift is really making a difference in someone's life.
Jewelry and accessories. Provide-N-CE, a little northwest Denver gallery on Tennyson Street, has a terrific selection of affordable beaded necklaces, embroidered purses, amazing silk scarves and other wonderful things, all made through cooperatives that provide employment for Vietnamese women-women whose children had been living in orphanages because their families couldn't afford to support them. Sister Sen Nguyen, who we met in our work with Marycrest, works with the women in her numerous trips back to her native Vietnam to design the very appealing stuff that fills the store. JVA's president, Janine Vanderburg, bought a beaded glass necklace there on Friday night that was the impetus for writing this blog, with everyone asking, "
Where did you buy that necklace?" Call first for hours, and tell Sister Sen that Janine sent you.
Provide-N-Ce, 4235 W. 41st Ave., Denver, 80212. 303.477.0309. Click here for an article on Sister Sen.
Dinner out. OK, this dinner out wouldn't technically occur on Valentine's Day, but it is definitely worth the wait. (You might want to accompany this gift with a really, really nice card and the tickets enclosed in a little silk purse from Provide-N-Ce).
Work Options for Women is having its third annual Women Cook event--we went the first year and it is amazing! Denver's best female chefs create specialty appetizers and other dishes, served with well-matched wines. This is a great gift for foodies-how it's been set up in the past is that you can keep circling around the different chefs' tables, trying the different dishes and talking it up with the chefs-better than the Food Network! And when you attend, you are supporting a program with a great track record of helping women with little education or employment history become self-sufficient by training them for sustainable jobs in the food service industry.
Click here for more information about the event.
Books. If the person you care about is a boomer in the "what next?" stage of his or her life, give
Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life. Written by Marc Freedman, a national leader in the big idea that as people get older they can be a resource and not a detriment to communities,
Encore features true life stories about people who have navigated into other work and who are making a difference.
Flowers. The bunch of flowers you grab on the way home will be droopy in a week, but the flowers pressed into the products made by
Green Fingers will retain their beauty, and they will help people who are homeless as well. Sponsored by JVA client
EarthLinks, GreenFingers is a micro-economic development project where homeless and low-income people grow plants, then create and sell products. The products include candles and glass bowls with flowers pressed in (EarthLinks had a booth at our open house, and these products are just beautiful!) There are some examples on its
Web site, but you'll want to stop by in person to see what's new; Kara says they have some special Valentine's Day-themed gifts.
EarthLinks is located at 2828 Larimer St., Denver, 80205. It is open 9 to 5, but do call first. 303.389.0085.
Chocolate. And for some of you-and you know who you are-Valentine's Day means chocolate. May we suggest
Roberta's, on 29th Avenue in Denver, across from JVA's old office. (When we moved to our new space at the end of the summer, the biggest regret was leaving Roberta's and not being able to rush over there in the afternoon lag to grab all kinds of chocolate-dark, milk, full of almonds, malted milk balls, truffles-whatever it is, Roberta has it!). If you go in person to Roberta's for your Valentine's Day chocolate and
mention JVA Consulting,
she will donate 10 percent to Rocky Mountain Parents as Teachers, a very cool program that does home visits with high needs families to show them how to support their children's development, with great results.
From all of us at
JVA Consulting, Happy Valentine's Day
You still believe one person can change the world.
So does JVA-and we can help you do it.