It’s time again for the annual Ten Thousand Villages sale, a collection of imported goods which were purchased from foreign artisans at a fair-trade price.
The sale begins on Dec. 2 and goes from 5:30 to 9 p.m., and starts again on Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. and runs to 4 p.m. It is at Smithers Secondary School’s Round Room.
The selection includes handmade musical instruments, pottery, baskets, as well as food items like coffee, tea and sugar.
Ten Thousand Villages is a not-for-profit organization run by the Mennonite and Brethren Christ Churches in North America and formed in 1946. Worldwide sales of fair-trade items have grown 40 per cent over the past five years.
Most money made from the sale goes back to the artisans in the developing countries while 10 per cent of the profit is kept locally and will go to the St. James Community Soup Kitchen, the Salvation Army Food Bank and the Broadway Place Emergency Shelter.
Local volunteers run the sale, as well as the high school’s Social Justice 12 class.