Their first ‘compassionate adventure’ will make it possible to bring water to the homes of more than 450 people, saving time for everyone, correcting the injustice that was the destruction of the old system and making use of existing resources for the benefit of the whole village. They will get to be involved in what is called ‘Quechua’ where everyone agrees to come together to work for the benefit of the whole community. They will be filming their first season of Compassionate Adventure: Ecuador! and we look forward to seeing the work they complete.

This year, we are grateful for:

Our team- the different talents, personalities and passion that everyone brings to the company.

Our growing relationship with World Vision. This year we partnered with them to build a trauma recovery center in Cambodia and assisted their relief efforts with the tsunami disaster in Japan.  Now we have forged a long term relationship with them by creating a brand of their own, ‘GIVEN.’

The birth of Rylee Larson, the newest team member.

The depth that we can go in our relationships with non-profits who do such much good for others.

The launch of Made For Good and the Given, MusiCares, Beautiful Feet, RainTees, and United brands.

Our amazing ambassadors. You have come together as a team this year and we are grateful to be connected with each of you.

Our successful 2011 partnerships with StandUp Kids and World Vision.

Our families and friends that support us in our work here.

You. We value each one of your contributions to the success of Jedidiah this year.

The hope and promise of 2012.

“I think SUFK is like family, a huge family of great people and friends. I don’t know where or what I would be doing without them. For the past 2 years they have helped me dramatically and I am so gracious for their help getting rides, food stamps, medi-cal, food packs and all the fun we have when we’re all brought together at events. All my thanks goes to SUFK.” -Andrew W, Orange County, CA

Our head designer, Kelli Murray Larson, also had a table with her most recent pieces.

“I have always lived by the saying, “life is about the journey and not the destination.” However, I never knew what it meant until I started traveling.

In 2007, immediately after finishing my final exam at Florida State University, I was on a flight to Greece. I hadn’t even found out if I graduated yet, but that did not matter. I had sold almost all of my belongings, because where I was going I did not need a truck, designer jeans or a dining set.

That journey would last almost 4 years.  I had learned Muay Thai boxing in Thailand, surfed undiscovered breaks in Indonesia, hiked for a month in Nepal, lived in a monastery with Theravada Monks and rode a motorcycle through India. I transitioned from a curious, clean cut, Florida frat boy, to a slightly more curious, long haired, mustached traveler (picture a mix between Earl from “My Name is Earl,” and Jesus). I felt the change deep within my heart and I finally gained a sense of purpose. However I couldn’t pin point what exactly had impacted me to the point of radical change. Was it the countless relationships I had built upon the way? Was it the adventures that constantly pushed me to my limits? Was it the philanthropic projects we completed? Or, was it just simply one too many round house kicks to the head? I believe that it was all of these things.

Despite all of these mad endeavors into the strange and unknown, I came to the realization that what really changed me were the people. More specifically; the opportunities I had to build relationships and help to make an impact in their lives. It could be as simple as helping a mama cook dinner for her young or helping the locals build a wooden bridge that was knocked down by a tsunami. Or, for John, another “Modern Gypsy,” maybe it was teaching in Cambodia; telling stories to the children about other strange, magical worlds. These were the experiences that really resonated within our souls and helped to define our life’s purpose.

In saying this, we believe that this is just the beginning of our journey. We started “The Modern Gypsies” with the intention of giving people something real to embrace. We want people from all walks of life to be able to follow us on our, “Compassionate Adventure” series. This series will incorporate one major adventure and one major act of compassion. Each trip is decided by our fan’s votes, the philanthropic project is then funded by their donations and then they can follow us along the journey in real time and see  the impact that they have helped to create. For our first journey, we will be traveling to Ecuador! Here we will be attempting to summit Cotapaxi, a 20,000 ft Stratovolcano and then completing a clean water well with Free the Children in the Chimbarazo province.

We have been inspired by so many beautiful people and places around the world; now it is time to give back to them. Our hopes are to inspire the “Compassionate Adventurer” in us all, give people real outlets to create their own journeys and to build positive change in their lives. We are strong believers in the philosophy of developing more global citizens. It is astounding that with all the freedom and opportunity we have in the United States of America, only 37% of Americans own a passport! We urge people to experience adventure, a healthy lifestyle and incorporate acts of compassion into their daily life. We hope to inspire not only the compassionate adventurer, but also to help discover the modern gypsy in us all!

One of the amazing things about this journey has been the support that we’ve gotten from like-minded people. I couldn’t pick a better brand to align our movement with than Jedidiah. With their “made for good” spirit, our passions have combined and the sales of our t-shirts have directly contributed to the clean water well we will be building in Ecuador. I have also been privileged to work full time with Nika Water, another Jedidiah ambassador, to help raise funds and bring clean water to thousands of people across the globe.  In addition, we had the opportunity to complete the Woodwalk with The Paradigm Project which consisted of carrying 60lbs of wood on our backs from San Diego to Los Angeles!

We are truly blessed to be part of a family that is committed to creating social change. We look forward to an ongoing relationship with the entire Jedidiah crew as well as all of their passionate (and often insane) ambassadors. You guys are rockstars!”

Jedidiah’s Fall and Holiday lines benefit StandUp For Kids to support them in helping kids like Robert succeed.

November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month! StandUp For Kids, a national non-profit improving the lives of homeless youth, is our Fall/Holiday partner and we are excited to support their Big Purple Couch movement for the month. Their goal for this November is to put a ‘big purple couch’ in every school, university, place of business and public building in order to bring attention to the 1.3 million youth who are homeless in our country today. Why a purple couch? Many of the homeless kids “couch surf” – moving from one home/couch to another while trying to finish school, find a job and get out of their current situation.

In addition to our Fall/Holiday collections that benefit StandUp For Kids, we have released a special Big Purple Couch t-shirt line for the month of November. 100% of the proceeds benefit StandUp For Kids in their efforts to help homeless youth. Click here to help now.

Jedidiah’s Fall and Holiday lines benefit StandUp For Kids to support them in helping kids like Jonathan succeed.