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by LAURA TABOR
Lifestyles Reporter
Every item of clothing has a story and how a garment is produced determines its unique history.
This is what drives Amy C. Mescher, a junior graphic design major, to seek products that are traded fairly.
Mescher is an organizer of the upcoming Trade As One sale, an event hosted by Campus Crusade For Christ.
The event will be held Thursday, from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m.
The group stumbled upon Trade As One through a Bible study leader.
The organization sells fair trade products from Ghana, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa and other countries.
Most of the products are made by women who would have no way to support themselves and their children otherwise.
Campus Crusade chose to host this sale because they saw it as a universal issue.
“This is an issue that everyone cares about, not just Christians,” Mescher said. “We have a heart for the same things.”
The group has ordered products from various countries, and will sell them at a table in Plemmons Student Union.
“The
work is cyclical,” Hannah L. Parks, a senior psychology major and
organizer for the event said. “They raise money through organizations
in order to start these companies, and then the women who make the
products earn a profit and in turn use the money to create more jobs.”
Trade as One, according to its Web site, tries to create “compassionate capitalism” in order to benefit the marginalized poor.
“Where you use your dollar says a lot,” Parks said. “Using it on fair trade businesses is like voting for them with your money.”
Campus Crusade will sell products from toys and jewelry to head wraps and chocolate.
Each product comes with a story describing how and where the product was made.
During the sale, Bald Guy Brew coffee, a local business that is also fair trade, will offer free coffee.
“One
thing I’ve learned is that there are a lot of fair trade companies in
Boone,” Parks said. “We hope to raise awareness of the local fair trade
businesses, not just fair trade overseas. We want this to be
infectious.”
Adrienne D. Farmer, a senior elementary education major, saw this as an opportunity to remember others during the holidays.
“People
are getting a fair wage for these products,” Farmer said. “It helps to
know that these beautiful products weren’t made in sweatshops.”
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