Alternative Gift Market

GIVE THE WORLD A GIFT . . .

and honor someone you care about

SHOP FOR FRIENDS & FAMILY AT THE

ALTERNATIVE GIFT MARKET

Saturday, Nov.12 10-3  & Sunday, Nov.13  11 -3

ST. BARNABAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH

91 MAIN STREET, FALMOUTH

Choose from more than 40 gift ideas from

20 LOCAL and GLOBAL charitable organizations

INCLUDES GLOBAL BAZAAR & BAKE SALE

Sponsored by: Church of the Messiah in Woods Hole, Falmouth Jewish Congregation, First Congregational Church of Falmouth, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth

2011 AGM Shopping List

Scroll down for photos of the 2010 gift market and for an explanation of how an alternative gift market works.

2010 AGM Final Outcome

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. New to the gift market this year will be the work of Haitian artists. The handpainted silk scarves by the Atis Fanm (Kreyol for women Artists) are stunningly beautiful. The artists paint stories from their lives, the Bible, the Vodou religion and from memories of flora and fauna that are fast disappearing from their world.

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.