Ten Thousand Villages- Fair Trade Stores

Droning on as we do about the virtues of Fair Trade, we were surprised to learn that there were two stores in our own city devoted to selling fair trade goods under the banner Ten Thousand Villages. We found that they are a non-profit program of the Mennonite Central Committee, and that "Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed, providing sustainable income through fair trade. This income helps pay for food, education, health care and housing. Thousands of volunteers in Canada and the United States work with Ten Thousand Villages in their home communities." Furthermore we found that it is a retail empire of 160 stores across America that has been supporting the work of tens of thousands of artisans in 30 countries for over sixty years. Check out the store nearest you at ::Ten Thousand Villages