Sometimes an idea starts small.
For us, it started with a candle.
The idea started with Witty Wicks team member Erin, who came to work one morning with an idea she couldn't stop thinking about. She shared it with Aubry and Cassie, and together the team brought the I AM JANE DOE candle to life in response to recent conversations surrounding sexual assault, accountability and believing women.
The message on the candle was simple:
Smells like:
Enough is enough.
Believing women.
Accountability.
Taking our power back.
We knew we wanted the candle to do something beyond making a statement. So we chose Vera House in Syracuse, an organization serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence throughout Central New York.
For the original I AM JANE DOE campaign, Witty Wicks committed to donating the entire $22 purchase price of every candle sold to Vera House.
We had no idea what would happen next.
Central New York showed up
The response was immediate.
Within the first 24 hours, 298 I AM JANE DOE candles were sold, representing $6,556 for Vera House at that point in the campaign.
We ran out of wax.
Our team kept pouring candles, packing orders and filling them as quickly as we could. Meanwhile, the messages, comments and shares kept coming.
As Witty Wicks owner Aubry shared:
“We have never experienced the overwhelming community support that we had for the I Am Jane Doe candle.”
By the time the original campaign came to an end, you helped us raise $7,356 for Vera House.
On October 6, Aubry visited Vera House in Syracuse to present the check in person.
Why Witty Wicks chose Vera House
Choosing where the money would go mattered to us.
Vera House has served people throughout the Syracuse and Central New York community for years, providing services and support for adults, children and families affected by domestic and sexual violence.
As Aubry explained:
“We picked Vera House. Because it's been around for a long time. They help a lot of people in our community, and we just wanted to feel like we were making a difference.”
It was also important to us that Witty Wicks contribute alongside everyone who purchased a candle.
“It was important for us to donate the entire cost of this candle, the whole $22, because we wanted to make a donation from us as well.”
During the original campaign, Witty Wicks absorbed the cost of making the candles so that the full $22 purchase price of each candle could go to Vera House.
Those individual purchases added up to an incredible $7,356 donation.
I AM JANE DOE is here to stay
We thought I AM JANE DOE would be a limited campaign.
You changed our minds.
The response to the candle and its message continued even after those first frantic days of pouring, packing and shipping. We heard from people who wanted the candle for themselves, people who wanted to give one to someone else and people who simply wanted another way to support Vera House.
So we decided the story shouldn't end with one check.
I AM JANE DOE now has a permanent place in the Witty Wicks Giveback Candle Collection.
Going forward, $10 from every I AM JANE DOE candle sold will benefit Vera House.
That means every candle purchased will continue to support an organization helping people right here in our Central New York community.
Giving back is part of Witty Wicks
Supporting other people and small businesses has been part of Witty Wicks from the beginning.
Inside our Camillus store, you'll find products from independent makers, small businesses and women-owned businesses alongside the products we make ourselves.
Our Giveback Candle Collection gives us another way to use what we make at Witty Wicks to support organizations and causes that matter to our customers and our community.
Now, I AM JANE DOE is part of that collection.
Thank you
To everyone who bought an I AM JANE DOE candle, shared our posts, left a comment, told a friend or supported the message behind it: thank you.
You took an idea that started at Witty Wicks and turned it into a $7,356 donation to Vera House.
And you showed us that the message behind this candle deserves to keep going.
Enough is enough.
Believing women.
Accountability.
Taking our power back.
I AM JANE DOE is here to stay.
Shop I AM JANE DOE
The I AM JANE DOE candle is available from Witty Wicks in Camillus and online.
$10 from every candle sold benefits Vera House.