Alternative Gift Market

 Skip the mall. Buy a pig.

Alternative gift market
puts unique twist on traditional gift-giving 

 Moorpark Unified Methodist Church has the
perfect way to avoid mall madness and, instead, buy meaningful gifts for loved
ones. It’s an alternative gift market.

 Rather than giving Grandma another ho-hum
sweater, visitors to Moorpark United Methodist Church’s alternative gift market
might opt to surprise her with a pair of goats, given in her honor to a poor
farming family in a developing country. Or a basket of food for the Moorpark
Food Pantry. These and other unique gifts will be available the day of the
market.  

 On Sunday, November 10th,
those who come will have the opportunity to purchase gifts for friends and
family and at the same time, make a real difference for people in need.  The Market answers the age-old holiday
question – what do you give to the person who has it all? The answer’s easy:
you give a cow, a water pump, an emergency shelter, or building tools. Your
friend or loved one gets a personalized, beautifully hand calligraphied card
with a picture of the gift, and the gift itself goes to the people who need it
most.

 Open from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM on November
10th, this alternative gift market is an annual event at Moorpark United
Methodist Church. “We are excited to provide this alternative
shopping opportunity to the Moorpark community. Buying alternative gifts can
save you time and provides hope for families right here in Moorpark and
throughout the world.  Your gifts will be
used to help a family become self-sufficient, to build a home, to provide a
nutritious meal for children in Moorpark, or to expand a child’s world through
reading,” says Marilyn Green, event organizer.

 Organizations participating in Moorpark United Methodist Church’s
alternative gift market include Church World Service, Habitat for Humanity,
Moorpark Public Library, Heifer Project International, the Moorpark Food
Pantry, and more.

 Lovely hand-made gifts created by Third World crafts people will
also be on sale, and their purchase will send funds back to cooperatives in
developing countries, to support families laboring to lift themselves out of poverty
through African Team Ministries and Colores del Pueblo.

This year’s market will also feature “Fair
Trade” coffee, tea, and chocolate. Many agriculture workers in the coffee
industry often toil in what can be described as "sweatshops in the
fields" and small coffee farmers all too frequently receive prices for
their coffee that are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a
cycle of poverty and debt.   “Fair Trade”
products are a viable solution to this crisis, assuring consumers that the
products were purchased under fair conditions. Fair Trade for
farmers ensures community development, health, education, and environmental
stewardship.

For more information on Moorpark United
Methodist Church’s alternative gift market, contact Marilyn Green at 805-501-4813
or the Church at 805-529-1401.