As a stay-at-home mom and “career volunteer” for many years, Anissa Everett poured herself into helping others through organizations like Meals on Wheels, Family Eldercare, and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). In 2023, with her children grown and flown, she embarked on a new adventure, opening MonkeyBug Gifts that Give Back, with a purpose to contribute to causes that serve the local and global community.
Tucked into a charming 1930s house in the heart of Wimberley Square, MonkeyBug Gifts is much more than a delightful retail shop. Each item that Everett sells—from jellies and honey to hats, jewelry, baby items, bags, books, and more—comes from a vendor that donates to an important cause. “I seek out the vendors that I see are the helpers … giving back through their small businesses to wonderful organizations,” Everett shares. “I am thankful for the warriors that are doing so much to be the good we all need.”
Indeed, every purchase at MonkeyBug Gifts benefits an important cause such as veteran aid, mental health support, animal rescues, food banks, cancer research, home builds, and environmental conservation. If a vendor does not have a designated charity, Everett donates a portion of those sales to her “spotlight cause.” For 2024, this chosen organization is CASA, a program of volunteers advocating for abused and neglected children in the foster care system.
Everett’s vendor partners—some hailing from far-off places like Haiti, Uganda, and Kyrgyzstan—inspire her. “Everybody is trying to get through life the best way they know how,” she says. “There are so many stories of courage, bravery, and the coming together of communities.”
Supported by her husband Todd and her children McKenna (“Monkey Girl”) and Zac (“Love Bug”), Everett is grateful for the opportunity to serve others through MonkeyBug Gifts. “There is so much going on in the world that is negative; I want to be a part of the good,” she says. “I am blessed in this life to be able to give back where I can from my little corner of Texas.”
MonkeyBugShop.com | @monkeybugshop2023
I am thankful for eyes that still see the good in this world, and a heart that feels compassion for humanity.