Our Global Reach 2019 BISBY Award recipient is Global Village Gifts! This not-for-profit retail store supports artisans and farmers globally who want to trade their homemade products on new markets, fairly. Their mission has two goals: “We educate the local public on the principles of Fair Trade, and we support artisans through the employment opportunities offered by Fair Trade.”
Global Village Gifts was founded in Logan, UT by 71-year-old Sally Keller. According to their website, her passion for fair trade and global causes began when her sister-in-law gave her a latrine bought in Nepal in 1994: "The gift was given to her by her sister-in-law from Alternative Gifts International, an organization which allows individuals to give donations to various causes as gifts. Then, in 1996, Sally was introduced to the mission of fair trade after a trip to Africa with her daughter where she was able to engage with local fair trade artisans. She was later given the opportunity in 1999 to speak about her experiences abroad at a fair trade store in Salt Lake City known as Ten Thousand Villages. The culmination of these experiences sparked an interest in Sally that couldn't be ignored.
Now, Keller has retired, and a store manager, volunteer coordinator, and over 30 volunteers, along with a volunteer board of directors, run Global Village Gifts. The store works to “further the economic success of producers in developing countries” by purchasing their work for fair prices, allowing the artisans to provide for their families and improve their living conditions. Often, those impacted the most are women.
“According to the United Nations Development Program, women provide the primary support for a quarter of the world's families, and women are the sole support for another quarter. By purchasing merchandise at Global Village Gifts, you are contributing to better the lives of underprivileged artisan families in Asia, Africa and South and Central America.”
Watch this video submitted by their team to learn more about their small business, and how they improve lives around the world, and visit their website here: http://www.globalvillagegifts.org/
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