Meet Evan | 2018 Inspiring Little Citizens Finalist

July 29, 2018

Inspiring Little Citizens 2018 Jack

Meet Evan, our Inspiring Little Citizen from Denton, Texas.  A brave little dude, Evan has been putting up a fierce fight against Leukemia for a number of years. He is currently seeking treatment at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas where he is always the center of the party. Despite the tough cards he’s been dealt, Evan always has a smile on his face. His positive spirit fills up the hospital halls.

After being treated for some time, Evan thought to himself “just because kids are in the hospital doesn’t mean they can’t have fun and still play like kids”. So, he and his parents involved patients and medical staff to create Evan’s Avengers, bringing video games like Mario Cart to life in the halls of the hospital.

Read on to learn more about Evan and how he’s setting out to make a difference.

Meet Jack | 2018 Inspiring Little Citizens Finalist

July 29, 2018

Inspiring Little Citizens 2018 Jack

Meet Jack, our Inspiring Little Citizen from Glenmoore, Pennsylvania. Jack is a tender-hearted boy who is constantly thinking of others and putting other kids first. He is quick to tune into emotions, readily helping to cheer up his classmates when they are feeling sad, lonely, or are just in need of a pal. His friends can attest, when you’re feeling glum, you can always count on Jack to be ready with a smile, and an action plan to make you feel better!

A fun fact about Jack is that he has always loved horses and feels very comforted by them. From a very young age, he would ask to be near them—his face would light up with excitement while feeding them carrots or watching them graze. For the past two summers, Jack went to horseback camp at Stone Crop Farm where he learned about Horse Power for Life, a wonderful organization dedicated to helping cancer patients and survivors of all ages improve their physical and emotional well-being through free, education and therapeutic horsemanship programs.

Inspiring Little Citizens 2018 Jack

Last summer, he attended a birthday party for a friend who, instead of asking for gifts, wished for donations to the organization. Jack was so inspired that he saved $100 of his own money to donate to Horse Power for Life.

Read on to learn more about Jack and his hopes of supporting this great organization.

Meet Juliette | 2018 Inspiring Little Citizens Finalist

July 29, 2018

Inspiring Little Citizens 2018 Juliette

Meet Juliette, our Inspiring Little Citizen from Los Altos, California. Juliette cares a lot about bees and is an avid Bee Ambassador! Her class wrote and performed a play where she played the role of a farmer who shares how bees are important for both plants and people. It was then that her passion for bees blossomed. She soon set out to share her knowledge from the play with her community, educating everyone from adults and kids at a pool party to the staff at a special needs residential center, and her neighbors.

Read on to learn more about Juliette and how she’s setting out to make a difference. 

Meet Sophia | 2018 Inspiring Little Citizens Finalist

July 29, 2018

Inspiring Little Citizens 2018 Sophia

Meet Sophia, our Inspiring Little Citizen from Rochester, New York. Sophia is an inspiring example of not judging a book by its cover. Because as a 7 ½-year-old with alopecia, she knows what it feels like when others do. She’s on a mission to spread the message of choosing curiosity and friendliness over assumption and exclusion. She made a video at school to teach her peers about her condition, and she treats others with visible differences the way she hopes to be treated–not with fear or judgment, but with connectedness and understanding.

Read on to learn more about Sophia and how she’s setting out to make a difference.

Behind the Design: Native Artists x Tea Collection

July 11, 2018

Native Artists x Tea Collection Fall Collaboration

The US is home to people of many cultures, identities, and walks of life. Some of us are here because generations ago our great grandparents and great, great grandparents left their home countries and set sail to a new land filled with promise of hope and opportunity. Others emigrated more recently. And then there are those whose ancestry traces back to the first people to call the US their home.

Our 2018 collection embarks on a journey across America, exploring its kaleidoscope of cultures and celebrating the communities that make each region so unique. Honoring America’s first cultures, this season, we collaborated with indigenous artists all over the country to create original art that’s true to tribal tradition and designed to inspire curiosity.

Learn more about the inspiration behind our exclusive Native Artists x Tea Collection designs.

NATIVE ARTISTS X TEA COLLECTION: MEET J GROWING THUNDER

July 11, 2018

J Growing Thunder

A three-generation grandmother, mother, daughter trio, J Growing Thunder represents three distinguished Native American artists: Joyce, Juanita, and Jessa Rae Growing Thunder. A member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Sioux (Dakota) tribes of Montana, matriarch, Joyce, spent much of her childhood gathered around with all of the grandmothers watching them bead. Quick to pick up their talents, she began designing her own quillwork and beadwork at a young age and, by the 1980’s, made a name for herself as one of the West’s most highly regarded beadworkers. Today her daughter and granddaughter follow in her footsteps, carrying on this cultural heritage and tradition.

Not only were we lucky enough to collaborate with these talented women on our latest Native Artists x Tea Collection designs, but we had the unique opportunity to get to know their story. Follow along for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their life and work.