Do you know that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and that an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of domestic violence every year?  Do you know that year round The Chocolate Fetish partners with Helpmate, a local domestic violence agency?  I’m so excited to share with you a new promotion we’re doing to help bring awareness to this worthy cause and continue to support Helpmate.

Artist & Chocolatier hand crafting chocolate high heel shoes.

We’ve created a specially designed chocolate high heel shoe, the proceeds from which will be donated to Helpmate.  Each limited edition chocolate high heel shoe boasts a unique purple ribbon pattern that has been specially designed for this promotion.  Our talented chocolatier that designed and created all the shoes, Jessica Lied, says that she enjoys the opportunity to make the shoes because; “I know that my creativity will have a positive impact on the lives of others.”  The limited edition high heel shoes will be available in store and on our website exclusively through the month of October.  Each hand decorated chocolate shoe is available in milk or dark chocolate for $32.95.

The Chocolate Fetish has partnered with Helpmate since 2005.  Throughout the year we give frequent donations to them such as our recent donation of over 200 chocolates for their, “Men who Care Luncheon.”  The annual “Men Who Care Luncheon” was held on September 12, 2013 and raised over $38,000 for Helpmate.  We also sell a special ‘Helpmate Assortment’ year round and donate all the proceeds to Helpmate.  Our Helpmate Assortment is adorned with a purple ribbon and contains chocolate covered caramels and New England style butter crunch.  It sells for $16.95 and is available in our store.

In addition to the monetary donations we make through out the year we also collect gifts for the residents of Helpmate’s shelter during the holidays.  We used to have an employee secret Santa gift exchange and no one was really that excited about it.   One year I suggested that we give gifts to Helpmate instead and the response was overwhelming.  Years before it was hard to get people to spend $10 on a gift for a coworker.  But now every year we collect literally 100’s of brand new gift items (from a staff of 20) to take to the women and children at the shelter.  My favorite part of our staff Christmas party every year is collecting and wrapping the gifts, it always brings a tear to my eye.

You can learn more about Helpmate and all the services they offer at http://www.helpmateonline.org/.  If you know someone who may be suffering from domestic violence but don’t know how to help come by and pick up one of our Helpmate boxes and a brochure… it’s a subtle way to let them know there is help available.  We have heard success stories from this method in the past!