Get involved in your local community
We’ve just created a new page on our website called Community Support, under our ‘ABOUT’ tab. The info below this opening paragraph is the content of that page (just with the images in a different order). Jenny has talked about this topic in various forums before but has never gotten around to writing about it on our website to help promote the idea of small businesses getting involved in their local community. From our perspective it doesn’t take much and it really is a win:win. You can’t be what you can’t see - so here it is for others to see!
BTW Jenny will be at the Sustainable Canberra Expo 2024 this Saturday speaking on a panel titled “Retroftting your home”. Head to the event website for more info HERE. Bonus - it will be emceed by her trusty sidekick at The FixitChicks, the one and only Lish Fejer.
Light House has always had a strong philosophy of giving back to the community and raising awareness of broader sustainability issues.
Some organisations we support financially — we call this *microphilanthropy (remember we are just a small business ourselves!) — others we support “in-kind” by providing advice or volunteering our time and input in other ways. For example, Jenny has been a volunteer board member at Craft and Design Canberra for several years and was also a volunteer board member at the ACT Conservation Council for two years. Jenny has also provided her home as a backdrop for educational videos, appeared in several videos, written many articles, given loads of presentations, and been part of many a panel discussion… and she and her team have gotten their boots and hands dirty in various ways.
In the case of SolarShare, Light House was a seed investor (micro-investor!) in this innovative project — Canberra’s first community solar farm. This investment now pays dividends in dollars but most importantly demonstrates to the broader community what is possible when people work together.
* I encourage other small businesses to consider this. One thousand dollars, even five hundred, can go a VERY long way in small organisations. Don’t underestimate how your small financial contribution, or donating a raffle prize, or simply cross-promoting activities on your social media accounts, or turning up and mucking in occasionally, can help increase impact and create positive change. EVERYTHING is better together. It really is a buzz to be part of things bigger than your own bubble. We dare you step out and give it a go.
