Born from the simple desire to offer quality, sustainable products to individuals, Life Equals was established in 2013. With a drive to bring nutrition to the masses, Life Equals’ founders, Kyle FitzGerald and Chris Thowe, started the company with a line of American-made, highly-effective supplements designed to provide a variety of nutritional support.
Making an impact with a give back
With the creation of the supplement line came the desire to make more of an impact than providing our customers with quality, nutritional products. Right on the heels of TOMS Shoes, a ‘one-for-one’ model became popular and we decided we wanted to do our part in giving back. We partnered with Vitamin Angels to offer vitamins to malnourished children for every supplement we sold. We are very thankful for our partnership with Vitamin Angels and are incredibly proud to say that we helped offer over 500,000 vitamins to children.
Growing beyond our beginnings
In 2014, after launching in Whole Foods Market, the desire to get back to the basics was a spark within the founders’ minds. Upon learning of the lack of fruits and vegetables Americans consume in the average Standard American Diet (SAD), that spark quickly became a wildfire! In 2016, after consulting with doctors, dietitians, medical professionals, and health coaches, Balance the Superfood Shot® was born. Finally, a product that that made getting those daily fruit and vegetable servings radically simple.
With the development of Balance the Superfood Shot® came an even greater desire to improve the give back of our company as well as become more personally involved with our community. At Life Equals, we believe that a child who grows tomatoes eats tomatoes. Knowing where your food comes from, especially planting the food yourself, establishes a connection to what you are consuming and we want to help provide that connection to others.
A new give back partner
In March of 2018, we began a new partnership with Cross-Lines Community Outreach. Cross-Lines’ mission is to “provide people in the Kansas City area affected by poverty with services and opportunities that encourage self-confidence, meet the needs of today, and provide the tools for future self-sufficiency.”
Cross-Lines offers three “Hunger Relief Programs”; the food pantry, the Community Annex Kitchen, and Commodities Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). All three programs provide nourishment and sustenance to the community and are supplemented with the fresh produce grown in the community garden, which is located on a ¼-acre lot on the Cross-Lines campus. Through the hunger relief programs, Cross-Lines strives to “fill the gap, provide nutritious foods, and alleviate hunger for those in need.”
Our work with Cross-Lines has only just begun, but we are thankful for the opportunity to get out of the office and get our hands dirty and reconnect to Mother Earth. Stay tuned for updates on the garden and our continued relationship with Cross-Lines Community Outreach.