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your shopping make a difference
The community is invited to shop for Fair Trade gifts, house wares, jewelry and more that are handmade by artisans around the world. St. Mary’s Church is hosting a Work of Human Hands Sale and Bead For Life Event as part of the Arts and Crafts Fair on Sunday, August 2nd from 10am to 4pm at the Raspberry Festival at St. Gertrude’s Monastery in Cottonwood, Idaho. Organizing the Sale is a group of friends who have hosted similar sales in 2006 and 2007. “We wanted to do something tangible to make a difference in the lives of others and we have had so much fun along the way,” said Loretta Poxleitner. Also involved are Kathy McFaul, Sheila Bruno and Cara Duman. The Fair Trade products are ordered from a catalog full of beautiful hand-made items. The group looks through the catalog together and picks out the items that they feel will sell best. The unsold items along all the money earned at the sale is sent back to the company. A portion of the proceeds goes to Catholic Relief Services. The items offered are from the Work of Human Hands program, a partnership between Catholic Relief Services and SERRV. Every purchase made at a Work of Human Hands Sale enables an artisan or farmer to better provide for the basic necessities of life, to educate her or his children, and to work in a safe environment. By selling their product to a fair-trade organization such as SERRV, the individuals make a fair wage for their work, but the items are comparable in price to items you find elsewhere. This year the group also added hand-made beaded jewelry from Bead For Life to their selection of products to buy. These beautiful necklaces, bracelets and earrings are made with beads rolled from colored paper by women in Uganda. The jewelry comes in a variety of colors and is exceptionally beautiful. The Bead For Life organization will send them a collection of over 500 items to choose from. Whatever doesn’t sell will be returned and the proceeds sent back to Bead for Life. Bead for Life is a socially responsible global organization, working with women, all of whom were living on less than $1 a day in extreme poverty. Based in North America and Uganda, BFL has partnered with industrious women who make vivid beaded jewelry out of recycled paper. All net profits from BFL sales are invested in projects that fight extreme poverty, primarily in three key areas: health, affordable housing, and vocational training for impoverished youth, and entrepreneurial development through micro credit for small businesses. Information about Work of Human Hands can be found at www.crsfairtrade.org and details about BeadforLife is found at www.beadforlife.org. |
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