Burt’s Bees has teamed up with the Happy Boxes Project to help them spread happiness and empower women in remote areas of Australia by alleviating the barriers of accessing basic need.
Founder of the Happy Boxes Project Emma Sullings said after five years working, living and learning in remote communities in the Northern Territory as a teacher, youth mentor and family educator, she realised how difficult it was for indigenous women to access basic needs such as food and toiletries.
She originally set out to gather donations for a youth wellbeing program that she ran, but as people learnt about the project, she was completely bombarded with beautiful donations from all over Australia.
Happy Boxes are now distributed all over Australia.
“We currently send out boxes to more than 50 remote communities in Australia,” Emma told media via Zoom.
“We have a coordinator based in each community and they help us distribute the Happy Boxes to whoever needs them the most – we send them out to kids in youth programs, to elders, to mums and bubs, to domestic violence shelters – we send them to wherever a strong women might need a spring in their step.”
To launch the partnership Burt’s Bees shared the results of a nation-wide Smile It On survey.
The survey revealed that family was the number one driver of happiness for Australians, along with the power and importance of a smile.
It also found:
• Close relationships (1) outranked experiences (2) and personal achievements (3) among other points when asked what makes people happier
• Being there and listening is how we help create happiness in others
• More than 25% of people surveyed feel happiest in nature
Human connection scientist and author of Get Conscious: How to stop overthinking and come alive, Ali Walker (PhD), told said: “From my research, I continually uncover insights that indicate human connections and strong relationships are more vital to our wellbeing than anything else, and the Burt’s Bees research is no different. As humans, we are hardwired to connect, because we have evolved to be safer in groups. Human connection doesn’t just make us happy; it’s a biological need.”
Burt’s Bees marketing director Joy Delis said for every Happy Box sent to the media, Burt’s Bees would be sending two identical Happy Boxes to communities around the nation, along with a stack of other Burt’s Bees products, that were bound to make people smile.