Dec. 8, 2008 issue
Ten Thousand Villages festival sales go beyond stores
By Celeste Kennel-Shank Mennonite Weekly ReviewPage:
- 1
- 2
WHEATON, Ill. — Norman Ewert and Sharon Coolidge Ewert have hundreds of house guests each November, and it’s not because of Thanksgiving.
Sherrill Keefe, who attends Lombard (Ill.) Mennonite Church, flips rugs from Pakistan during a Ten Thousand Villages off-site sale Nov. 21 in Wheaton, Ill. — Photo by Celeste Kennel-Shank
For decades, the Ewerts have transformed their home once a year into a sale of Ten Thousand Villages fair trade products.
The Ewerts have visited 15 to 20 artisan groups around the world. They place photographs of those countries and artisans around their home during the sale.
“We know what a difference this makes, and we’re happy to provide a market,” Sharon Coolidge Ewert said.
Each year, Ten Thousand Villages — a program of Mennonite Central Committee — has about 300 Festival Sales, where community groups sell Ten Thousand Villages products and educate customers about fair trade.
A majority of the sales are held by church groups, and they generate more than $1 million annually, according to the Ten Thousand Villages U.S. office.
Some of the sales take place in areas where there is a market for fair trade crafts but no Ten Thousand Villages store.
Ten Thousand Villages has 26 owned-and-operated retail stores and more than 100 independently owned and operated contract stores.
One off-site sale is held by Manhattan (Kan.) Mennonite Church, where a Nov. 9 event sold several thousand dollars worth of Ten Thousand Villages crafts to people from the area, where such items are not normally available.
Filer (Idaho) Mennonite Church, a congregation with an average attendance of 34, held their 25th Ten Thousand Villages sale Oct. 16-18. The sale made about $39,000, said Lois Hooley, sale coordinator.
Page:
- 1
- 2
Comment on the article Ten Thousand Villages festival sales go beyond stores
The purpose of comments is to engage in dialogue. We expect commenters to treat authors and each other as each would want to be treated. Respectful criticism is welcomed; offensive comments or parts of comments will be removed by the site administrator. Name and comment will be posted; email address is for follow-up only and will not be made public.
Download
Download a free PDF showing the populations of
Mennonite groups and other Anabaptists.
