Article Options

Alternative Gift Fair gives chance to make a difference

By Marleen Shepherd, For the Southern

Saturday, November 24, 2007 8:20 AM CST

CARBONDALE - Imagine that each Christmas gift you bought came with another price tag, one that noted the human suffering and ecological damage incurred by mass producing it. The petroleum used to produce and transport it, the low wages and long hours of its makers, the life of its plastic packaging in a landfill.

That this price tag is missing is enough for most to turn a blind eye to the systemic injustice and environmental recklessness that enables our consumer culture. But Carbondale faith groups are urging a better way: the Alternative Gift Fair.

From 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, shoppers at the Carbondale Civic Center can select gifts that help the change world or, at least, a corner of it.

"That's where a lot of people's hearts and minds are now," said Mary Sullivan, an organizer and member of Church of the Good Shepherd (United Church of Christ). "The whole idea is rather than purchase materialistic things people don't need, to do something that they care about, to do something they want to see happen."

Now in its third year, the Alternative Gift Fair is growing in participating organizations and attracting more people hungering to be part of a solution.

"This is a justice issue that many faith groups have focused on," said Margie Parker, an organizer who will be selling fair trade coffee, chocolate, tea and crafts at the fair.

"It started particularly with coffee because of the coffee hours so many churches have following worship services," said Parker, whose own congregation, Good Shepherd, serves fair trade coffee. "Serving coffee that has been grown in a people-friendly and environment-friendly manner seems appropriate for people who are concerned about putting their faith into action."

At the gift fair, donations can also be made in loved ones' names to 18 charities including Heifer International, Good Samaritan Ministries, Rainbow Café, Free Again Wildlife Rehabilitation, The Women's Center, Carbondale Boys and Girls Club, Southern Illinois Center for a Sustainable Future, Michael Wolff Memorial Wetlands Project, PAWS, Sierra Club, RBF Dome, Southern Illinois Irish Festival, Southern Illinois NOW and Habitat for Humanity.

Buyers receive a certificate noting the purchase that they can give as a gift.

"Some people want to see a hungry person get a hot meal more than they want a new tie," Sullivan said.

Live holiday jazz by Marissa Winegar and Ralph Tate and soothing sounds from the harp trio Harpeggio will set the festive mood at the event.

A children's table will allow the youngest members of the family to get into the spirit.

"It's really great for kids to get out and see the important things they can be doing in the world and places they can be helping. Because they like that and people don't realize that," Sullivan said. "People distract them with possessions and pacifiers instead of engaging them in their world."

zion.road@gmail.com 521-3541