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    An artisan hand-carving an olive wood spoon in the Lesvos workshop

    Our Mission

    Our Mission: Olive Wood, Rebuilding Lives

    We hand-carve olive wood kitchenware on the Greek island of Lesvos, employing refugee artisans, and ship from Indiana to homes, businesses, and retailers across the United States.

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    The Place

    Lesvos

    Lesvos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean, a few miles off the Turkish coast. Since 2015 it has been one of the main entry points into Europe for people fleeing conflict and economic collapse — Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis, and others.

    Many arrive, get processed, and then sit in limbo for years with no way to work and no clear path forward. That is the context this business exists inside.

    How we started.

    Lesvos Woodcraft started in early 2024, growing out of an agricultural project that taught displaced people on the island to grow food and earn a basic income locally.

    Food doesn't ship internationally. Olive wood does. Which gave the idea that we could produce a product that could be exported internationally.

    Randall, founder of Lesvos Woodcraft, with his family outside their home in Greece

    A note from the founder

    "I started Lesvos Woodcraft to help refugees who were unable find work. I saw the struggle they faced integrating into a new country. My hope is that our workshop can be a place of joy in their lives, a place of purposeful employment, and a place that grows their faith and hope for the future.Matthew 22:39b — "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

    — Randall

    The Mission

    A business, not a charity.

    It takes an average of 10–20 years for a displaced person to become a contributing member of their community and economy. By providing income and vocational training, our goal is to reduce that to 2–3 years.

    Lesvos Woodcraft is a for-profit business. Charity has its place and does good — we've seen it here on Lesvos firsthand. Our path is just a different one: building something sustainable that grows from within the community itself. Our artisans aren't beneficiaries — they're employees. They earn paychecks, build skills, and take pride in craft that's sold around the world. For the mission to last, the business has to work as a business.

    Artisan Alex carving the bowl of an olive wood spatula

    The Makers

    Real people, with names.

    Each artisan in our workshop has a story, a craft, and a name. Most of our products carry a QR code that links back to the artisans who helped craft yours — restoring dignity and rebuilding lives — real traceability, not a marketing claim.

    Meet the artisans →

    Every spoon is one-of-a-kind because every artisan is.

    Mission FAQ

    Questions, answered plainly.

    Our artisans are full-time employees paid steady wages — not contractors, and not recipients of "a percentage donated." Their pay is built into the price, the way a carpenter's wages are built into the price of a chair. The rest covers olive wood, tools, international shipping, our US warehouse, and the real work of getting a handmade spoon from Greece to your kitchen. We're a business, not a charity passing donations through. That's the point.

    Charities depend on donations that come and go. A business that sells something people genuinely want creates income that lasts. We chose the harder, slower path because we think it's the one that is needed and will last.

    Yes. Every piece is handcrafted in our workshop on the island of Lesvos, shipped in bulk to our warehouse in Amboy, Indiana, and sent to you from there. Most products carry a QR code you can scan to meet the artisans who carved yours.

    Have other questions? See our full FAQ →

    Buy something beautiful. Keep people employed who'd otherwise have no work. That's the whole arrangement.

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