Fair Trade Your Holiday Events!
Share Your Plans and get Free Samples
Here’s your chance to get hooked up with some great free materials for that final Fair Trade event of the year!
A number of generous donations have allowed us to support campaigns hosting or partnering to bring Fair Trade to a local school, place of worship or workplace for the holidays! The first 20 campaigns to provide a short explanation of their plans in the comment section below will recieve the following event package to help bolster their event:
- A Fair Trade Coffee event package from ecoGrounds and…
- A Fair Trade Chocolate event package from Kopali Organics and…
- A Fair Trade Tea event package from Runa Tea
- Informational 1 Pagers on Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate from Fair Trade Campaigns.
Thank you ecoGrounds, Runa, and Kopali Organics for the donations!
For a few ideas to help get the ball rolling, read on below:
Note: If you are already doing one of the following you qualify!
Idea 1: Sample Fair Trade at a Place of Worship
Often times places of worship host community events around the holidays. Set up a table and sample coffee, tea and chocolates or reach out and offer to give community members a boost of energy and a conversation piece after a service.
Idea 2: Sample Fair Trade Chocolate at a School Event
Do you know any local teachers or do you have children enrolled in a local school? Set up a presentation during a class or assembly. Or incorporate Fair Trade into a holiday party and talk about the many issues associated with cocoa production. Click here for a cocoa presentation and facts.
Idea 3: Sample Fair Trade at a Holiday Work Party
Give your colleagues the extra boost they need at this years holiday party! Set up a table with Fair Trade Coffee (like ecoGrounds),
Tea (like Runa) and/or chocolate (Kopali), as well as some materials highlighting what you have accomplished this year and are looking to achieve in the next. Use this as an opportunity to get the word out about your campaign and get new committee members!
Worrying about an end of year lag in event attendees? If you have questions about drawing in a crowd, contact National Organizer Courtney Lang at clang@fairtradeusa,org for some ideas!
Remember to post your plans of bringing fair trade to a local school, place of worship or a holiday work party in the comment section below!
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We in Milwaukee have talked some colleges into having fair trade holiday fairs. Below are details from one coming up at Marquette University, in the Alumni [student] Union, third floor ballroom.
Date: Tuesday, December 3 rd
Shopping hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be tables for you to spread out your goods and chairs will be available. We have been working hard to advertise the event.
Fair Trade Houston is hosting a booth at not one, but three separate alternative giving markets in Houston. Samples would be great as they help to draw a crowd that can learn more about Fair Trade as an alternative this holiday season. We are excited to promote not just Fair Trade Houston but also the great local businesses that sell Fair Trade. Hopefully this will be the fairest holiday season yet!
Fair Trade Ballston Spa often hosts its events at Mango Tree Imports, the fair trade “anchor” store in town. This year, as part of a continuing effort to introduce new consumers to fair trade and its far-reaching impact, we are hosing a Ladies’ Night on 12/4 followed by a Men’s Night on 12/11. The ladies will come in and fill out their fair trade wish lists with the top 1 – 15 gifts that they would love to see under the tree. The following week, their shoppers come and, while shopping, they can also fill out their wish lists. The goals include bringing in a committed group of people who could be prime candidates for the Ballston Spa Fair Trade Coalition or introducing new people to fair trade. Since we are hosting a chocolate tasting this coming weekend, we were trying to figure out what special products we could promote for our next two events and these fair trade goodies would be perfect! Thank you and happy holidays!
Chicago Fair Trade will be having a coffee cupping with the Coffee Event Package available to members and non-members to make it an enjoyable experience for people of diverse backgrounds to learn about Fair Trade coffee, the process of making it, different grinds, and different flavors embodied in this magical bean! We would heavily promote this event through our e-newsletters, Facebook page, and mailings. We will host the event at a local FT coffee shop. This would be immensely appreciated! Thank you!
Leading the Way, Santa Rosa Fair Trade will be hosting two events this month. Our local fair trade gift retailer, Kindred Handcrafts will host their monthly Fair Trade Friday event with a benefit shopping day on Friday, December 13. 10% of sales will be donated to the local Fair Trade Town Campaign and we will conduct outreach for volunteers to support our 2014 activities. In addition, we hope to host a fair trade sampling party on Tuesday, December 10 at City Hall. By serving fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate, we hope to raise awareness at one of the largest employers in Santa Rosa and get the attention and support of the City Council. Your support in our campaign is always appreciated!
Fair Trade Atlanta is partnering with Oglethorpe University to have a fair trade hot chocolate Christmas movie night, where we are showing Elf.
Fair Trade Alexandria is hoping to host a movie night at a local church that supports our campaign. We hope to serve chocolate drizzled popcorn and tea incorporating different fair trade products. Our next steering committee meeting is next week so it’s possible we may even have other events in the works!
Thank you for your support!
We (La Mesa Fair Trade) are combining efforts with Fair Trade San Diego to help Fair Trade awareness grow in the area. K & B Wine Cellars was the 2nd place we have found that carries FT vodka and liquors. A tremendous supporter of FT is Windmill Farms who is located next door to the K&B. We would like to offer FT chocolate and more to those who attend our Meet & Greet event. We have sent this invite to over 500 people and 100 have clicked to open it. We also plan on having for sale FT coffee and tea. On hand will brochures and an opportunity to sign up to be part of our email supporters.
We are going to support some of our local fair trade companies who are setting up a pop up shop for the month of December. The Fair Trade Burlington Network is going to set up an information table to help promote our efforts to raise awareness about the importance of fair trade. We would love to offer delicious fair trade samples to the customers. Thank you Fair Trade Campaigns for this wonderful opportunity!
In Bethlehem NY we have our BIG event of the year coming up – our 4th annual Black Friday Fair Trade Market, held at Delmar Reformed Church (Black Friday & Saturday, 9am-3pm). More than 20 vendors, and tables packed with beautiful fairly traded crafts from around the world. We expect around a thousand shoppers through the doors. It’s always a great opportunity to hand out free FT product samples to visitors…
The following week we’re also taking part in our town’s annual Holiday parade. Something tells me we’ll have a Fair Trade banana marching with us this year! The parade ends near the Delmar Reformed Church, where FT coffee and hot chocolate will be served – another chance to share sample products?
Here at Media Elementary School, we are planning to have a Fair Trade booth to sell a number of Fair Trade products for two popular school events. One if our Arts and Crafts Night this Friday, where kids come to do handmade things for the holidays, and the other is the Book Fair, where families and kids buy books. We will sell chocolate, hot cocoa mix, coffee, teas and give kids and parents information about Fair Trade programs and certifications.
We at the Fair Trade Missoula Campaign are excited for the upcoming holiday season! We will once again promote our mission to “SHOP FAIR!” throughout the community, as we team up with the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center (JRPC) and the JRPC fair trade store. Friday will mark our annual kids night, allowing children to shop for fair trade gifts for their families and loved ones with the help of volunteers (so it remains a surprise)! As always, our event will have fair trade chocolate and coffee to keep everyone awake and happy!
At Teaneck High School, our Chefs classes are making chocolate chip cookies to donate to a local charity for a holiday fair. The students will use Fair Trade chocolate chips.