Tastefully Driven Commerce with Conscience Program

The owners of Pure Adapt, Inc - the parent company of Tastefully Driven - were all born and raised in and around New York's capital region, and we are extremely happy to be building our business here. But our business alone isn't enough. We want to ensure that the money that we bring in to the area via online sales gets put back in to the local community to help increase the quality of living of everyone in the greater Albany area. Our first year in 2008 was a huge success and we're looking forward to a bigger and better 2009! Here's how the program works:

• We select a local 501(c)(3) charity that we feel does good work to improve Upstate New York.
• For the next three months, we set aside 5% of our pre-tax profit in a bank account to be given to the charity.
• At the end of the three month period, we send a check from Pure Adapt, Inc to the selected charity for the amount in the bank account.
• For every purchase that you make on TastefullyDriven.com of $100 or more, you will receive a Commerce with Conscience wrist band as our way of saying thank you for your contribution to the program. Wrist bands can also be purchased through the site for $4.99, with 100% of the profit from the item going to charity.

2009 - Center for Disability Services

In their words: "To enable and empower people, primarily those with disabilities, to lead healthy & enriched lives."

Why we chose them: the Center for Disability Services is an important part of the Upstate New York community that serves over 15,000 individuals of all ages by providing services to help those with disabilities. These services are very important to the community because they are unique and usually not offered anywhere else. They are very committed to the well-being of the people they serve with the goal in mind to help them lead a normal healthy life.

How you can help: please visit http://www.cfdsny.org/Giving.html to learn about the various ways you can help out the Center for Disability or make a purchase through Tastefully Driven and we'll donate 5% of the pretax profits. "Your support truly makes the Center the place where people get better at life." - Center for Disability Services

2008 - Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York

In their words: "The mission of the Regional Food Bank is to be a leader in reducing hunger and alleviating poverty. We work toward this mission by ensuring that all products available for donation reach the Food Bank and are distributed judiciously to our member agencies; by practicing responsible stewardship; and by actively participating in the community to increase awareness of hunger and poverty."

Why we chose them: according to a recent article in the Albany Times Union, there has been a steady raise in the level of poverty in our area over the past several years. With food, gas, and electricity costs rising faster than wages, food pantries have seen an increase in demand that they can not keep up with. From the article - "According to Mark Quandt, director of the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, which provides food to pantries around the region, demand is up and donations are down. 'When costs go up, and something needs to be cut and that often is food,' Quandt said. According to Food Pantries for the Capital District, people sought food assistance 65,758 times from 44 area pantries in 2006."

How you can help: the Regional Food Bank accepts food donations, monetary donations, and also has a need for volunteers in the Albany area. Visit RegionalFoodBank.net for more information.