Starkville is known as “Mississippi’s College Town,” but many businesses want to do more for the world around them than just provide Bulldog fans with game-day grub or the trendiest outfits. These businesses have found ways, such as selling charitable items or donating a portion of sales to charities, to help people both here in Starkville and across the globe.
Three of these businesses include Denim & Lace, Firehouse Subs and Deep South Pout. These businesses each saw a need and decided to do something about it.
Located in downtown Starkville, Denim and Lace, formerly known as Harmonie Boutique, opened this summer. Along with the clothes in the store, Denim & Lace also has many charitable items. These items are made by women across the globe and sold in stores similar to this to bring a profit to these women.
Items sold by Denim & Lace include fashionABLE scarves made by women in Ethiopia, Sseko sandals and Ember Arts jewelry made by women in Uganda and Peace Cord bracelets made by widows of Afghan soldiers. Other charitable items they sell are Pura Vida bracelets, made by artisans in Costa Rica, and locally-made glasses from wine or champagne bottles to support breast cancer research.
Erin Ray, owner of Denim & Lace, said the organizations give women an opportunity to better their lives.
“In other areas of the world, women are often oppressed. This gives them jobs so that they can make money and have a better life,” Ray said.
Ray said the reason she decided to include these items in her store is because she wanted to carry items that help other people. 
“At many places it is all about fashion, but I wanted people to see that they could ‘shop with meaning,’ and that they could buy pretty things but also help others at the same time,” Ray said.
Another new business to Starkville that stands out for its charitable giving is Firehouse Subs. Founded in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, Firehouse Subs raises money for the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. It gives customers the opportunity to donate money to this foundation through the sale of pickle buckets, cash donations made at the register and through the “Round Up” program through which guests can round their bill up to the nearest dollar amount.
William Craig, owner and general manager of Firehouse Subs in Starkville, said in an email this foundation donates money to scholarships, fire prevention education and the purchase of crucial emergency response equipment such as thermal imaging equipment and extraction tools also known as the “jaws of life.”
“Each Firehouse Subs restaurant raises money for the foundation year-round, and individual restaurants are able to work with local first responder organizations and request grant money. In this way, the money we raise has a local, direct impact on our community.” Craig said. “To date, we’ve donated more than $61,000 to the state of Mississippi and are hoping to make a donation locally in the area next year.”
As businesses follow this trend and give to people in need, Deep South Pout is another to be recognized for its charitable giving. As the founder of the Reclaimed Project, its mission is threefold: help the underprivileged in the community, give adoption grants to local families and support orphan care centers in Botswana, Africa.
They provide a portion of each sale to Reclaimed Project as well as allow customers to support it through the 127 initiative. Through this initiative, they ask customers to donate $0.27 to the Reclaimed Project at the time of check out. Juva Juice and Stinky Feet have also joined this initiative.
Justin Oswalt, owner of Deep South Pout, said since it was founded in 2011, they have always wanted to give to charity.
“As a Christian organization, from the beginning, we felt led to give two percent of our sales from sales to various charities. As business picked up and donations became bigger and bigger we wanted a way to have a say in exactly what the money was used for,” Oswalt said.
Because proceeds from Bulldog Bash go toward the Reclaim Project, Oswalt said he looks forward to this weekend as it will expose many visitors to Reclaimed Project.
“Reclaimed Project is very new, but we have already given 10 $15,000 adoption grants,” Oswalt said. “As Bulldog Bash is supporting Reclaimed Project this year, we are hoping to be able to expose more people to this and have more volunteers and interns as a result.”
For more information about any of these businesses and their charity involvement, those interested may visit their local stores. Also, for information on how Bulldog Bash supports Reclaimed Project visit msubulldogbash.com.
 

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Kaitlin Mullins | The Reflector

Products benefiting the Reclaimed Project are available for purchase at Deep South Pout and help the community.