Nov. 26, 2007

Religious Life Community will offer the Simpson and Indianola communities an opportunity to invest in their world and shop fair trade during the Ten Thousand Villages Festival. The festival will be held Nov. 26 through Nov. 30 in Smith Chapel.

Shoppers will discover hundreds of handcrafted musical instruments, baskets, ornaments, toys and jewelry made by skilled artisans in more than 30 countries. The handicrafts are marketed by Ten Thousand Villages. Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to artisans around the world by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. All proceeds from the RLC sale benefit Ten Thousand Villages artisan partners.

Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit fair trade organization and a program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). MCC is a relief, service and peace agency of the North American Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches and is headquartered in Akron, Pa.