Ten Thousand Villages of Austin’s Blog

Ten Thousand Villages is proud to support local non-profit organizations by hosting benefit shopping nights.  This month, all of our benefit nights will be helping local dog rescue, wellness, and training organizations.  You and your four-legged canine friends are welcome to stop in to shop.  As an added bonus, our fabulous sponsor, Bark for Peace, will be providing vegan, organic treats for your pets! Also available will be greeting cards from Verysupercool with all of your favorite dog expressions!

Stop in any evening next week, May 12-15, and your purchase between 5pm-9pm will benefit the following organizations:

May 12 - Lucky Mutts Mixed Breed Rescue
May 13 - Chain Free Austin
May 14 - Schrodi Memorial Training Scholarship Fund
May 15 - Austin German Shepherd Dog Rescue

Our neighbor, Rivers & Reefs, will stay open late for last minute dog food shopping May 12-15!  Hope to see you and your pups in the store! …Taylor

It is not always easy to wrap one’s head around the impact of globalization—to discern the gains from the ills. This Sunday there’s a great opportunity to learn more about the global impact of our choices.  Ten Thousand Villages, along with many other local organizations, is a sponsoring

Our Choices, Global Impact: a Forum on Fair Trade and Latin America

Sunday, October 21st   1-5pm

Thompson Conference Center at the LBJ School of Public Affairs

this event is free and open to the public

Spanish translation available to all attendees 

Register for the event.

Through a panel of academics, social entrepreneurs and community activists, as well as workshops and discussion sessions, the forum will explore the many facets current trade policy and its alternatives. The purpose of the forum is to discuss the impact of U.S. trade and economic policy and its effects on Latin America. The forum will also focus on ways that Austinites have and can continue to fight for economic and environmental justice across Latin America.

Personally, I find that it is often overwhelming and difficult to learn about and make sense of the influence and reach of U.S. trade policy.  This forum creates the space and access to some of Austin’s best thinkers and doers on the issue. Take a look at the speaker bios . Wow! This promises to be an event worth attending!

I wanted to share this e-mail from our assistant store manager, Polly:

Hello Board and Staff,

I just wanted to pass on some good news: this morning the Austin City Council unanimously approved the SweatFree Ordinance that we [Ten Thousand Villages of Austin] have endorsed. The ordinance was sponsored by council members Lee Leffingwell, Jennifer Kim and Sheryl Cole and was widely praised by Mayor Wynn.

What this means is that the city of Austin will not purchase uniforms from sweatshops. The city currently has an annual budget of 1.9 million dollars for uniform expenditures, so our commitment to sweatfree purchases will have a significant impact.

I am so proud of Austin for taking this stand on human rights and I am especially proud that we at Ten Thousand Villages of Austin did our part to make this happen. Thank you all for your support of this important initiative!

-Polly

More details about the SweatFree Ordinance at the Texas Fair Trade Coalition.

Technorati Tags: sweatfree, austin

World Fair Trade Day takes place each second Saturday of May. “Kids Need Fair Trade” is this year’s theme:

Fair Trade aims to change the economic and social structure of our world, and empowers marginalized people to help them escape the poverty trap. If adults are paid a fair price for their work, their children are able to go to school and live a healthy and full life, rather than having to work. Fair Trade not only benefits adults–it helps kids too!

Here is this year’s collection of messages from fair traders worldwide who work on the front lines, including Tara Projects (India), People Tree (UK) and Bombolulu Workshops (Kenya).

Watch for fair trade celebrations at the Austin store on Saturday, May 12.

Technorati Tags: worldfairtradeday, fairtrade, kids

I’m serious. The fair trade clothing movement needs to capitalize on the “green rush” and nurture the energy and interest in all things sustainable and worker friendly.

Kitty pointed me to an article in this Sunday’s Washington Post that profiled a 25-year-old World Bank analyst who established Fashion 4 Development, a subcommittee at the World Bank that promotes socially conscious designers and brands. Priya Patel also served as an organizer of D.C. Fashion Week’s fair trade runway show last month which showcased designers from Africa, Asian and Latin America. (Shameless plug: Scroll down to the fifth image at the bottom of the article; she’s a fan of Ten Thousand Villages’ embroidered jewelry box)

I found her comment on a World Bank blog post rather thoughtful:

Fashion may appear to many in the development world as frivolous or irrelevant when in fact it is at the center of critical issues concerning cultural representation, body image, design aesthetics, global trade and production, and professional and consumer ethics. With the development of Make Poverty History campaign and the emphasis on Africa, there is no better time for fashion to make a political statement on development.

I’m fully aware of the fact that fads will come and fads will go. IMHO, a reasonable long-term victory is to have raised awareness and educate say 5 percent of the predisposed consumer base who will go on to continue making conscious decisions about their fashion spend.

To that end, the Texas Fair Trade Coalition is screening “China Blue“:

“China Blue,” a heartbreaking and meticulous documentary about life inside a blue-jeans factory in China, reveals more than we may care to know about the provenance of our most beloved item of clothing. Employing smuggled equipment and outright deception, Micha X. Peled and his crew infiltrate a plant owned by Guo Xi Lam, a former police chief who is clearly proud of his success. “We are happy to make the jeans for the whole world,” says his beaming sales manager, while clients like Wal-Mart and Levi Strauss suggest the factory is well on its way. (Source: NYT)

When: Tuesday, May 15, 7pm
Where: Congregational Church of Austin, 408 W. 23rd St. (map it)
Running time: 87 minutes
Release date: January 26, 2007

Technorati Tags: chinablue, fashion, worldbank

It makes my day to learn that Jane Goodall launched a new line of “chimp-friendly,” fair trade coffee to call attention to environmental degradation and fund raise for the Jane Goodall institute (JGI). The Gombe Special Reserve line will be marketed throughout the United States by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and 10 percent of the sales proceeds will go to the JGI.

Chimps don’t drink coffee; they won’t eat the fruit or leaves, or even linger in areas dense with coffee plants. That’s a good thing, says Jane Goodall. “Coffee can act as a buffer to protect chimps and people from each other,” and minimize the exposure to disease that threatens chimps, she says.

“I realized that some of the best coffee was being grown in the high hills [in Kigoma], but the growers weren’t making any money,” Goodall says. “How can we think of [making arguments for] saving the chimp beings if the human population around is clearly struggling to survive? There are more people than the land can support with current practices.”

Goodall has been a heroine of mine since my college days when I learned about her goods works through an anthropology elective.

Technorati Tags: fairtrade, coffee, goodall, Tanzania

If you have any experience working with a nonprofit, you’ll know that most are resource-starved and in need of time, talent and/or treasure ($$).  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a one-stop shop with the know-how to lend a hand?

In comes Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, an Austin-based nonprofit whose mission is to help nonprofits “through consulting, education, networking, and resources.”  Check out its calendar of events to network with other nonprofits, learn grant writing skills, craft media-savvy programs, run fundraisers, headhunt for the next board member with XZY skill set, etc.

Matt Kouri joined recently in Jan. 2007 as the new Executive Director, bringing a consulting background from Deloitte.  His bio reads like a consultant’s (”functional areas”) but what resonate with me was his introductory letter in the January or February newsletter; his reflections on his decision to leave the corporate world to make a difference in the nonprofit space was very genuine and heartfelt.

Keep up the good works.  And to Central Texas nonprofits, be smart and check out the resources available to you.

Technorati Tags: affinity