Looking for an alternative gift this Christmas? Consider purchasing Fair Trade imported gift items. The following retailers offer handcrafted gifts, chocolates, and coffees from around the world, and your purchase helps to stimulate the economy in developing countries
and ensure that workers receive fair wages for their work.
And what do you buy for the person who has everything? Consider a
contribution in their name to a nonprofit organization engaged in social
justice work.
Shop for
Fair Trade gift items at these retailers:
Blue Flamingo
Thrift Store -- thrift items and
Fair Trade gifts from Ten Thousand Villages, World of Good, and Equal Exchange
1716 S. 10th Street
Omaha NE 68108
(402) 964-2740
www.blueflamingo.org
Soul Desires -- spiritual books, gifts, and Equal Exchange
coffee
1027 Jackson Street
Omaha, NE 68102
(402) 898-7600 or toll free (800) 111-1234
www.soul-desires.com
Blue Summit -- featuring gift items from Ten Thousand Villages
4101 S 120th Street
Omaha, NE 68137
(402) 333-1405
www.bluesummitexperience.com
Ten Thousand Villages -- handcrafted gifts from around the world
140 N. 8th
Street, Suite 125
Lincoln NE 68508
(402) 475-4122
www.lincolntenthousandvillages.com
Ten Thousand Villages
2119 Central Ave
Kearney NE 68847
(308) 234-1474
www.kearneytenthousandvillages.com
Shop these Fair Trade dealers on the Internet:
Trade As One tradeasone.com
Green Heart greenheartshop.org
Indigenous Designs indigenousdesigns.com
Mata Traders matatraders.com
Give
a gift that keeps on giving when you make a contribution to a nonprofit
organization. Here are just a few opportunities for you to support social
justice work:
LOCAL
ORGANIZATIONS
Together, Inc.
www.togetheromaha.org
Serving people in need in
the Omaha metro area, Together, Inc. offers a free food pantry, the Together
Store, and financial assistance programs.
Omaha Food Bank
www.omahafoodbank.org
The Food Bank collects and
distributes donated food and household items to charities and organizations
that help people in need. The Food Bank works with over 360 organizations in
eastern Nebraska and western Iowa to combat the issue of hunger.
Habitat for Humanity
www.habitatomaha.org
Habitat for Humanity of
Omaha Inc. is a non-profit, Christian-based organization of dedicated persons
of all races and creeds. Habitat makes it all possible for people with very low
incomes to purchase their own home. All homes are built or renovated through
volunteer labor and tax deductible donations of money and materials.
United Methodist
Ministries – Missouri River District
www.bigmuddyumc.org
Committed to social
justice work in Nebraska since 1966, United Methodist Ministries cultivates
creative partnerships to eradicate hunger, poverty, and racism.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
UMCOR Christmas List (United Methodist Committee on Relief)
Heifer International
www.heifer.org
Heifer International works
with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty. Providing animals
such as goats, chickens, and bees gives families ongoing sources of food rather
than short-term relief. As people share their
animals’ offspring with others – along with their knowledge, resources, and
skills – an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created
that reaches around the globe.
UNICEF
www.unicefusa.org
Working in over 150
countries, UNICEF provides children with health care, clean water, nutrition,
education, emergency relief and more.
United Methodist Ministries
Food and Faith Reading List
101 Tips for Parents: Raising Healthy Eaters, by Henry Legere, MD
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver (available in paperback for first time in May)
Becoming Bread: Meditations on Loving and Transformation, Gunilla Norris
Breaking Bread: The Spiritual Significance of Food, by Sara Covin Juengst
Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, Joan Dye Gussow
Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley (Children’s Book)
Food and Faith: Justice, Joy and Daily Bread, Michael Schut
Food for Life: The Spirituality and Ethics of Eating, L. Shannon Jung
God Speaks to Us in Feeding Stories by Mary Ann Getty-Sullivan (Children’s Book)
Harvest for the World: A Worship Anthology on Sharing in the World of Creation, Geoffrey Duncan, ed.
Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon by Jules Bass and Debbie Harter (Children’s Book)
Hunger for the World: Lectionary Reflections of Food and Justice, Year A, Larry Holler
Inch by Inch: The Garden Song by David Mallett (Children’s Book)
Kids Garden: The Anytime, Anyplace Guide to Sowing and Growing Fun, by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell
Living Simply with Children, Marie Sherlock
Simply in Season: World Community Cookbook, Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert
Simply in Season Leader’s Study Guide, Rachel Miller-Moreland
Simply in Season: Children’s Cookbook, by Mark Beach and Julie Kauffman
The Beeman by Laurie Krebs and Valeria Cis (Children’s Book)
What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty, Bill Ehlig and Ruby Payne
Social Principles of the
United Methodist Church
Any church affiliated organization is challenged to think clearly and logically about its role in today's world. The work of the United Methodist Church is guided by these Social Principles.