Alternative Gift Market

UPPER  CAPE  COD  ALTERNATIVE  GIFT  MARKET

SATURDAY,  NOV. 13    10 - 3

SUNDAY,  NOV. 14     11 - 3

What is an Alternative Gift Market?

An Alternative Gift Market is a community fair where you can purchase non-traditional gifts to give to family and friends. Rather than buy one more necktie for Uncle Fred, honor him instead by giving in his name, a life-sustaining gift that will help alleviate poverty and disease, renew our planet’s environment, or promote education, sustainable development and peace.

You might choose to buy food for the shelves of the local food pantry or purchase a bicycle for a health care worker in Kenya or provide a month’s salary for a teacher in rural Nepal - all in the name of a friend or family member.

How does the recipient of the alternative gift know about the gift?

When the shopper buys an alternative gift, he or she receives an attractive card with an insert to send or give to the recipient. The insert is a printed announcement which describes the project for which a donation has been made. The insert describes the project but does not include the prices on the shopping list or the amount of the donation.

Global Marketplace

The gift market also provides the opportunity to purchase fair trade items for gift giving. In 2009, our fair trade partners included Equal Exchange selling coffee and chocolate, SERRV International with handcrafted items from artisans around the world, and The Sharing Foundation with beautiful handbags and scarves made by young women in Cambodia.

History of the Upper Cape Cod Alternative Gift Market

The Upper Cape Cod Alternative Gift was first organized in November 2007 by the Social Action Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, Now in its 4^th year, the gift market is held at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Falmouth center and is sponsored by a coalition of five Falmouth congregations whose members come from Falmouth, Bourne, Sandwich, Mashpee and beyond. Volunteers from all five congregations work together to put on this festive and increasingly popular event each November.

The 2009 AGM raised over $31,000 in charitable donations for local and global charities and another $10,000 in sales of fair trade merchandise. Each year the steering committee invites local charities to offer gifts that benefit those in our own communities and works with Alternative Gifts International to identify gifts that bring hope and change to people around the world.