The original line of Karito Kids, now joined by their little buddies, Travel Charmers (see below).

We are incredibly lucky to have so many clients who do amazing things for the world.

Some raise money for women’s cancers. Others provide education, housing and support for developmentally disabled kids and adults. Still others support young athletes, build homes for working families, or create state of the art programs for seniors with dementia.

It’s a hell of a group, and we’re thrilled to be on their teams.

One of our favorites is the amazing Karito Kids.

A couple of years ago, two visionary women formed a company whose mission was to support services for children in some of the poorest parts of the world, while teaching kids about the value of being involved and giving back. (The name Karito [`ka-ree`-toe], meaning charity and love of one’s neighbor, comes from the constructed international language Esperanto.)

To do that, they created a line of multi-cultural dolls and books, and set things up so that a portion of every purchase supports children’s humanitarian projects worldwide.

The creativity of their product line combined with the company’s core commitments to charity and global awareness have attracted industry and media attention, resulting in dozens of prestigious awards, including the #1 Toy of the Year.

Now they’re doing even more.

Look! It's the new Travel Charmers line of soft, cuddly Karito Kids.

They just announced a plan to donate an additional $2 of every Karito Kids® purchase to victims of the recent natural disasters in Southeast Asia.

Through an initiative called “Project Reach Out,” they’ll send extra funds to help families affected by the recent earthquakes and typhoons in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. This additional “Project Reach Out” donation will be in effect through October 31.

Laura and Lisa — and their whole team — are simply amazing. As are their products. Do yourself and the world a favor and shop now for the holidays. It’s not too early to get into the real spirit of giving.

Breakout campaign of the year? Wow!
We just found out our client, KidsGive, was awarded top honors at Kid Power 2008 in Orlando, FL! We beat out Kelloggs and a whole bunch of other kid-centered companies with our launch of the new line of dolls and books, Karito Kids.

Sure, these ethnically accurate, international dolls are gorgeously sculpted, the books are a joy to read, and the fashions are truly cool. But there’s an even more important part of the concept: it gets kids exposed to giving. 3% of the purchase price of every Karito Kids purchase goes towards the international children’s charity, Plan. When little girls take them home, they get involved on-line — playing great games, earning extra points and directing the donation to one of four areas: school, home, health or food. 

So, here’s what the Kid Power site says about the awards:

The Kid Power Awards have been established to honor, recognize and promote the most innovative Kid’s and Families Marketing Campaign. To identify these organizations and individuals, the Kid Power Xchange has enlisted a prestigious list of recognized industry leaders to accurately and objectively evaluate your campaign.

This one’s in addition to the 16 or so awards they’ve already captured in their first year of operation, including the prestigious Oppenheim award and being named No. 1 Toy of the Year by Family Fun.

We are so proud of our talented team of creatives — Kevin, Wendy, Anat and Janina  – and of our amazing, visionary client, that we had to let you know about it. Here’s a link to the KidsGive site. (Yep, we designed that, too.)

Good news! The following companies have sent in verification forms for several of their products.

Edushape, Mudpuppy, Lego Systems, Publications International, Little Tikes, Step 2, Kidsgive, Lisa LeLeu

We hope now that the new toy season in underway that more companies will submit forms!  We are not independently verifiying with a lab, but we are encouraged that these companies have listed their lab and signed off on the form that their products are lead and phthalates free.