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This unique partnership is fighting human trafficking one healthy drink at a time 
forbes

What do you do when no solution exists to fix your problem? You create one. Or at least, that’s what David Batstone did when he created a business, Rebbl, to partner with his non-profit Not For Sale to be able to viably achieve his initial mission.

Not For Sale’s mandate is to eradicate human trafficking while simultaneously supporting victims. After half a decade of constructing shelters and providing services for individuals at risk of human trafficking, Founder and President David Batstone realized that in its current model, his nonprofit was not scalable. Batsone and his team decided to create a sustainable, profitable company that would serve as a partner and provide jobs and opportunities to the at-risk communities Not For Sale served. They gathered a team, as well as people from those communities, to come up with an strategy on how to do so. That’s how Rebbl was born: a line of functional beverages, with ingredients sourced directly from the communities served by Not For Sale.

WHY IT MATTERS: By using innovative and proactive thinking, Batstone was able to maintain his original mission of supporting victims of human trafficking, while going one step further to economically support the at-risk communities that Not For Sale protects.

 

Celebrating Community and Supporting Small Business in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto
Facebook

Earlier this year, Facebook launched its “Community Boost” initiative, a program through which the social networking company has visited over 30 cities, partnered with 60 organizations, and established a national partnership with the National Urban League in an effort to help people gain in-demand skills in a digital economy and help small businesses to grow. In the latest step of the program, Community Boost is coming to Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, California, where it’s also partnering with Cañada College and Foothill College to develop new digital marketing certificate programs.

WHY IT MATTERS: Large tech companies such as Facebook and its smaller competitors are responsible for creating an ever-growing demand of digital and technological skills in the job market. Educating programs and schools, especially ones with small or non-existent endowments, may not possess the resources to keep their digital education cutting-edge, so it’s important that Facebook steps in to provide the very same education it’s creating a demand for.

 

Anthem-Walmart Partnership Will Allow Seniors Cheaper Access to OTC Drugs, Other Health Products
Marketwatch

A new collaboration between health insurance provider Anthem, Inc. and Walmart, a Concordia Programming Sponsor, will allow senior citizens enrolled in Anthem-affiliated Medicare Advantage health plans greater access to over-the-counter medications and other health products at decreased out-of-pocket costs.

WHY IT MATTERSAs noted by Walmart and Anthem, retired and older adults often heavily rely on their Social Security benefits for a large part of their income. Partnerships such as this are making an impact, however small, by alleviating the every-day medical costs of these seniors.