Alternative Gift Market/Craft Fair (AGM/CF)

Our 11th Annual Alternative Gift Market and Craft Fair will be held at UUCR between 10am and 2pm on Saturday December 3rd.  A Shopping List may be downloaded here.

For newcomers to UUCR and others who may not have attended this event in the past, an “alternative gift” enables us to give to others in a different and more meaningful way. You can donate a gift on behalf of a friend, loved one, your child’s teacher, or the person on your list who has everything. The recipients are people in need in our neighborhood or around the world, who are not on anyone’s gift list. A gift card and an explanation of how the donation will be used to help a child, a family or a community comes with each contribution you make.  There will be many options from which to choose in a wide range of donation amounts.

This is not a fundraiser for UUCR. Every penny donated goes to the gift selected. Each “vendor” on our Shopping List (e.g., Reston Interfaith, Heifer International, Adopt-A-School, etc) as well as projects from Alternative Gifts International is vetted and qualifies as a charitable organization, so your AGM gifts are tax deductible.

Items offered at our Craft Fair come from Ten Thousand Villages, an international organization that ensures foreign artisans receive fair market wages for their efforts instead of slave labor rates. The items range from pottery and jewelry to woodcarvings, baskets and soap; there’s something for everyone.

In order to be successful, the AGM/CF needs your support. Last year over 55 members and friends helped with the many tasks it takes to present the market. There are a multitude of opportunities – table setup (on Thursday evening 12/1), and on Market day (12/3) - greeters, folks to promote AGI projects, assist with the Craft sales, ring up sales, pass out gift cards/ inserts and cleanup on Saturday afternoon after closing. And we will need you to help get the word out to neighbors and friends. Sign-up sheets will be posted by the last week of October. Flyers and the Shopping List will be available for distribution in early November.

Questions? Contact any of the following AGM Committee members;

Judy Erickson, (703-437-3957) aljudyerickson@comcast.net

Kate Beckner (240-997-1957), katebeckner10@gmail.com

Jodi Imel (703-758-1822), jodiimel@comcast.net

Maxine Jaubert (703-391-2406), maxinejaubert@verizon.net

Linda Johnson (703-715-9438), johngartner4@verizon.net

Janette Siebs (703-437-3548 ), nettedansk@me.com

Evelyn von Barby (571-276-4275 ), vonbarby@web.de

Anne Welch (703-860-2717), annelwelch@aol.com