The 5^th Annual Oakland Indie Awards were a smashing success! On May 13^th, Oaklanders honored local artists and small businesses at the Indie Awards. Check out photos of the event at http://www.flickr.com/photos/onepacificcoast. The Oakland Indie Awards encourages people to recognize the community, economic, environmental, and political impact of supporting Oakland’s locally-owned businesses and artists instead of chain stores. It also provides rare opportunities for recognition for the small businesses and artists that make Oakland such a wonderful, creative place. Finally, it’s a chance for Oaklanders to just celebrate Oakland by enjoying Oakland food, wine, chocolate and music.

Congratulations to the Indie Awards winners:

• Business Greenie Award – The Rising Loafer Café & Bakery

• Artist Greenie Award - Jamie Vaida

• Pillars – Montclair Vet Hospital & Give Something Back

• Innovative Newbie – Back to the Roots Ventures

• Ripple Effect – Mandela Foods Co-operative

• Socially Responsible Rockstar – Karen’s Flowers

This event would not have been possible without the support of our committed sponsors including: Mattmar Group, Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, Uptown Apartments, Dan Carroll and Stasia Obremskey, Pete Higgins and Leslie Magid, Blue Heron Catering Company, SuperPrint, Exploratorium, Jack London Square, California Waste Solutions, First Solar, YMCA of the East Bay, City of Oakland, Urban Legends Winery, East Bay Community Foundation, Ron Beller and Jennifer Moses Family Foundation, Bay Area Derby Girls, Oakland Outlaws, AnewAmerica, Kipp and Sara Howard, Nancy Neel, and Bruce and Susan Kelley.

Did you know that you can buy office supplies locally and for less than the big box stores? Give Something Back is a local office supply company that provides full service, free nationwide delivery and a low price promise. It also happens to be a 2011 Indie Award winner!

What’s even better is that Give Something Back donates 75% of their net earnings to a variety of nonprofits in the West. By purchasing supplies from Give Something Back, you are supporting a local business and you can even vote on which nonprofits receive donations. Learn more about give something back at www.givesomethingback.com.

ReliaTech is a local computer service and e-waste recycling organization that offers reliable and reasonably priced computer service by certified technicians. They offer carry-in service at the San Pablo and San Francisco stores, and on-site service throughout the Bay Area. ReliaTech has a “No Fix, No Fee” guarantee and also offers discounts to nonprofits.

ReliaTech is the nonprofit social enterprise of The Stride Center, which is a social venture nonprofit empowering economic self-sufficiency for individuals and communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. ReliaTech provides on-the-job training for Stride Center participants and hires graduates of the program. All of Reliatech interns and employees are chosen and trained for their ability to treat every customer with respect and dignity. Learn more at www.reliatech.org.

Not only did OneCalifornia Bank win a Best of the East Bay Award, but so did some of our Oakland Unwrapped members!  Congratulations to our fellow Best of the East Bay Winners on Oakland Unwrapped!

Oakland Museum of CA: Best Face Lift

Oaklandish: Best Locally Made Kids’ Products; Reader’s Poll: Best Locally Made Products; Reader’s Poll: Best Men’s Clothing; Reader’s Poll: Best T-Shirts

Pendragon Books: Reader’s Poll: Best Book Store

Pro Arts Gallery: Reader’s Poll: Best Arts Organization

Yoshi’s Jazz Club: Most Balanced Kid’s Meal

Check out these and other winners at the Best of the East Bay Party on August 6th in Jack London Square!

The OneCalifornia Foundation staff continues to search for fun and unique items listed on Oakland Unwrapped!  Here are some of our favorites for the month of July:

Shea Butter Cream from Skincare by Feleciai

This smooth shea butter cream scented with lemon, orange and notes of sweet basil is a must have.  Skincare by Feleciai is all natural and handcrafted with love in Oakland.

Glass Pendant from Bridgland Studios

Check out this beautiful orange, purple, and pink disk from Bridgland Studios.  The color selection is unique with a striking result and the design is gorgeous.

Memberships at Chabot Space & Science Center

Searching for something fun to do this weekend? Visit Chabot Space & Science Center, which hosts events and exhibitions for people of all ages. And don’t forget to visit the observatory-in the afternoon, you can view the sun, moon, or Venus from the telescopes, and at night, your view of the sky is spectacular. Families looking for a fun outdoor adventure should check out the new family/group overnight event, Slumber with the Stars.  Memberships are available at the Center and online.

Find these and other cool items on Oakland Unwrapped!

Oakland Grown–a local non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate Oakland’s local, independent businesses and artists–wants you to come out, meet the artists and business owners, and learn more about their movement!  They are holding a mixer on Thursday, July 15th at ERA Art Bar and Lounge in the up-and-coming Uptown District of Oakland.  Come meet the Oakland Grown crew and mingle with other folks who love and support Oakland and independent businesses and artists.  There will be a cash bar, music, and special guests.  Check out details on the Facebook event page.

There are so many different and unique stores on Oakland Unwrapped that sometimes it’s hard to know where to start browsing for gifts!  To give you an idea of the great products that are on Oakland Unwrapped, and to get you in the browsing mood, may we suggest some of our favorite Oakland Unwrapped items:

Courier Bag from Haiku–A Courier Bag with Flair

We love this bag because it has lots of space, lots of pockets, and a cozy sleeve to secure a laptop. It doesn’t look like every other messenger bag out there - it’s got a little feminine flair (while still durable and super functional).  They have purses wallets and other bags, too. From Oakland-based Haiku Bags .

Cards from Volta Press–U N I R O-S-M

Adorable letter press cards to affectionately send a someone special a smile! We love Volta Press for their creative, one of a kind cards, stationary, and invitations. They also have fun items for Dads and Grads!

Crunchy Foods Biscotti di Suzy–Cranberry Almond Biscotti

These biscotti, while still nice and crunchy, are fresher than anything you’ll find in the stores, and come in many yummy flavors.  Cranberry Almond has a nice vanilla cookie flavor without being overly sweet, with pairs nicely with tart cranberries and crunch almonds.  Perfect for your tea, crumbled over ice cream, or right out of the box!

L’Amyx Tea Bar–Organic English Breakfast

If you’re going to have your biscotti, you have to have your tea-and English Breakfast isn’t just for breakfast anymore!  L’Amyx makes the best cup of English Breakfast I have ever had, hands-down.  Enjoy a steaming cup in the morning or afternoon, or brew it and pour it over ice for refreshing homemade iced tea.

Find these and other fun items at Oakland Unwrapped!

The new Beehive Market, celebrating all that is green and local, is opening in Berkeley on June 12th.  Think of it as an expanded farmer’s market, featurning food and product vendors, live music, and more.  They will be open every Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on San Pablo Avenue at Virginia Street in West Berkeley.  To find out more about the event, or to find out how to get involved as a vendor or sponsor, visit their website.

There are ways to avoid the mall this holiday season, support local stores and artists, and still buy gifts for everyone no your list.  Oakland Unwrapped, in collaboration with Jack London Square, ProArts, adn Oakland Grown, is putting on a “mall-ternative” shopping event, Holiday Buy Night, on Thursday and Friday, December 10th and 11th, from 5 to 10 PM.  From pet lovers to food lovers, fashionistas to athletes, women, men, children, and everyone in between, Holiday Buy Night promises to have something for everyone on your list.

If you need a shopping break, be sure to check out the music and live entertainment going on throughout the evening.  Have the young ones check out the kids section for games, arts and crafts, and a movie.  And if you get hungry or thirsty, be sure to check out the “food court” at the event.  Restaurants from Jack London Square will be selling food, including Kincaids, Cocina Poblana, Ben and Jerry’s, and others.  Awaken Cafe will provide coffee and hot chocolate and Numi and L’Amyx will provide hot tea to keep you warm and alert while shopping.  There will also be a beer and wine bar, featuring the East Bay Express’ holiday lager!  This is one shopping event you won’t want to miss this December!

Save the date!  Add this event to your Outlook Calendar here.

Interested in volunteering?  See below:

During one of the busiest shopping times of the year, we at OneCalifornia Bank and Foundation have been reminding our friends and colleagues to shop local and support small, independent businesses as much as possible.  Supporting local businesses keeps money cycling through the area and contributes to community development.   

When you shop at locally-owned, independent businesses, more money is kept in the community because local businesses are more likely to buy from local suppliers, and service providers.  In fact, the most conservative studies indicate that for every $100 that you spent at a locally-owned independent business, $68 of those dollars gets re-spent in the community.  That’s $25 (58%) more than if you spent it at a chain headquartered in another city.

The OneCalifornia team isn’t the only one singing the praises of shopping locally.  There is an entire movement centered on shopping locally and supporting small, independent businesses.  Some of these national organizations include BALLE and AMIBA.  Here in the Bay Area, Oakland Grown, Buy Local Berkeley, and SFLOMA are great resources.  Want to learn more?  See the list of 10 reasons to support local businesses on the Oakland Grown website.

What are some ways to shop local this holiday season?  Of course, the foundation’s Oakland Unwrapped! website makes it really easy, where you can shop online from over 160 locally-owned stores and artists - great for late nights and cold days when you prefer to shop online, but want to keep your money local.

We are also hosting a big, festive shopping event on December 10th and 11th to bring all of these shops and more together in one place.  Organizations like the Crucible are also hosting shopping events and many Oakland neighborhood shopping districts are hosting strolls, parades, discounts and later hours  to allow you the chance to shop there instead of at the mall.  Most of these shopping events feature live musical entertainment, fun kid activities, and food from local restaurants, so there are plenty of reasons to check them out!  The Oakland Grown website lists Oakland Shopping events, and we’ve been blogging about upcoming shopping events as well.  There are plenty of resources out there to help you shop local–so make it your holiday shopping resolution to support your local economy by shopping locally!  In fact, we encourage you to take the Oakland Grown pledge to try to do all of your shopping with locally-owned independent businesses and artists.