Hand-made jewelry and other goods fill a kiosk near the main office at Sunset Hill Elementary School to advertise the upcoming Global Market fund-raiser. PHOTO: MARK TROCKMAN
If you go
What: Global Market is a fund-raiser, selling fair trade goods
When: Saturday, Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Where: Sunset Hill Elementary School, 13005 Sunset Trail, Plymouth
This Saturday, it's fund-raising as unusual at Sunset Hill Elementary School in Plymouth.
The school's Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) has planned a Global Market in order to help it reach its fund-raising goal for the academic year.
Vendors will be selling handcrafted and fair trade goods from around the world. Once the final dollar count is in, up to 20 percent of the profits will be donated to the PTSA.
Many of the items for sale will be labeled as fair trade. "A lot of people have heard of fair trade. They might not know exactly what it is, but they know that it's a good thing," said Paula Halpern, co-chair of the PTSA's Global Market Committee.
"Fair trade" products promote workers' rights over deep discount pricing. Those who work on fair trade issues assure farmers and artisans receive a decent, living wage for the goods that they produce.
Fair trade organizers also ensure workplace health and safety standards are followed in foreign countries and that workers in other lands are allowed to organize into labor unions that will help educate and protect them.
The Twin Cities is actually home to a number of fair trade businesses. For example, Global Mamas, which is based in Minneapolis, sells handcrafted clothing sewn by a women's cooperative in Ghana. Peace Coffee, also based in Minneapolis, imports and sells fair trade coffee beans from around the world.
Both Global Mamas and Peace Coffee products will be on hand at Saturday's Global Market, along side fair trade chocolate, pottery and jewelry. Some local artists with ties to the school will also have their goods on display. Expect to find handmade soap, scarves, stationary and more.
Kristin Monge Seager, president of the Sunset Hill PTSA and co-chair for the event, came up with the idea of the Global Market last fall. "I went to a similar event at a couple different churches and just fell in love with the idea of fair trade. I bought a bunch of things that I gave away at Christmas, and I just felt so good knowing that my purchase had meant something," she said.
"I got to thinking about it," Monge Seager said, "and I wondered, 'If faith communities can do things like this, could a school?' It's worth a shot."
She pitched the idea to the PTSA and found a number of willing ears, especially in her event co-chair Halpern. "Last year we'd asked parents to fill out a survey and we asked for new fund-raising ideas. One common response was an arts and crafts fair," Halpern said.
"The Global Market is a spin on that idea," Halpern said. "People are tired of writing checks for things they don't need just so they can support an organization they like. Now they can come to the Global Market and spend money on something that they choose. Plus it helps support the school."
Monge Seager is quick to point out that sales, by their very nature as fair trade, will also be helping others. "We're going to be helping people all around the world," she said. "We're forging community among ourselves, but this is also a part of something bigger than us."
Because it is an event that will affect people beyond the Lake Minnetonka area, Monge Seager turned to an organization called Ten Thousand Villages to help plan the Global Market.
The Thousand Villages, which operates a retail shop on St. Paul's Grand Avenue, works with artisans around the world to import fair trade goods to the United States. Currently, it boasts 160 stores across the U.S. with another 49 shops in Canada.
As a leader in fair trade boutiques, Ten Thousand Villages regularly works with groups hoping to organize events like the Sunset Hill Global Market. Because of its local ties, the St. Paul store was able to put the school in touch with other Minnesota-based fair trade operators.
It was a strategic move to schedule the event for the end of October. "In November, people really start to get serious about their holiday shopping," Halpern said. "We're hoping to catch them before they start to feel the holiday budget crunch."
Since this is the Global Market's first year, nobody has a solid idea how much money it will earn for the PTSA, which hopes to raise a combined $40,000 through all of its fund-raising efforts this year. Thus far it has pulled in $17,000, mostly through a gift wrap program.
The PTSA uses its funds to help teachers enhance their classroom supplies and supplement field trips. It also uses its bank account to host a school carnival, a sock hop, a family breakfast and monthly conversation coffee breaks where parents can interact directly with the principal.
The organization's biggest annual expense is the certified naturalist it hires to come into the school and work with students at each grade level several times a year.
"This year is a learning process," said Monge Seager. "We are experimenting, and we're not expecting to make a lot our first time, but it is a unique enough idea that hopefully it can grow into something people look forward to."
