Annual Ten Thousand Villages Sale Returns to Fredericton
FREDERICTON – The Annual Ten Thousand Villages sale is in Fredericton this weekend at Wilmot United Church.
Fair trade, handmade products from across the globe are available at the sale. Fair trade means the artisans who make the products get paid a reasonable wage for their work.
Anne Plett volunteers with Ten Thousand Villages and was at the Fredericton show. “Often times [Ten Thousand Villages] provides artisans with work, we pay them up front,” she says.
Plett says the products come from over 50 countries, including Kenya, El Salvador, and Bangladesh.
Local resident Tyler Randall says he has been buying items from Ten Thousand Villages for years.
“It’s a really great way to support and to purchase ethically and environmentally sustainably,” Randall says. “There’s always something for everyone.”
Because all the products are handmade, Randall says they are also of higher quality.
“I’ve bought a lot of chocolate in the past, they have excellent soaps, they have excellent gifting ideas,” Randall says. “This year I have my eyes on a little truck that is a recycling truck for one of my nieces.”
Products for sale include chocolate, spices, coffee, baskets, jewelry, and toys.
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Some of the most eye-catching jewelry for sale comes from Cambodia. Plett says, “they make jewelry out of shell casings that Cambodia is riddled with.”
Artists in Cambodia collect used shells and shape the metal into necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.
Like the shell casing jewelry, many of the products use upcycled materials. Upcycled materials are things that would otherwise be garbage made into something new.
The Fredericton show is one of over thirty shows that Ten Thousand Villages puts on across the Maritime provinces and Eastern Canada. Plett says most of the shows are just before the holiday season.
Because of the large number of shows, Ten Thousand Villages relies on volunteers in the cities it visits to run the sale.
“The team here has provided us with volunteers to set up and take down, all the needs of a sale like this,” Plett says.
For anyone looking to avoid supporting big-box retailers or child labour, Ten Thousand Villages offers something everyone can enjoy.
