A fundraiser that puts a new spin on gift giving saw a substantial increase this year.
The Living Gifts program, through the local Ten Thousand Villages store, raised 25 per cent more in 2010 compared to last year.
The project allows people to fund programs run by the Mennonite Central Committee that help people in developing countries. Instead of giving someone a fruit cake or a tacky tie for Christmas, the Living Gift program allows Central Alberta residents to put $20 towards helping to stock a women’s fishery in India and then give their friend or loved one information on the project as their Christmas present.
During the holiday season this year, $10,000 was raised to support projects around the world, compared to the $8,000 raised in Red Deer last year.
“It was going slow until the last couple of weeks and then it really kicked into gear,” said Leslie Jodoin, manager of the local Ten Thousand Villages Store in Red Deer. “We ended up going over a lot compared to last year.”
Jodoin said the most popular categories this year were the give care and give education categories. She said the money raised in those categories will allow a lot of children to go to school and allow many people to have the supplies they need in their hospitals.
She said although there are many organizations that do this sort of fundraising, she thinks the Ten Thousand Villages’ Living Gifts program is particularly popular because most of the money goes to the projects in developing countries, rather than being used for administration fees.
Besides the Living Gifts program, Ten Thousand Villages at Southpointe Common, at 5001 19th St., in Red Deer, offers items made by artisans in 35 countries around the world that have been fairly traded and give the artisans a living wage.
The Mennonite Central Committee supports projects in more than 50 countries around the world.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com