Spread a little Joy to the World and Peace on Earth this holiday season!
We are delighted to announce the winners of the Fair Trade Holiday Carol contest and invite you to join us for holiday caroling this December!
Fair Trade Holiday Caroling
Global Exchange's Second Annual Reverse Trick or Treating was a huge success! Together with our partners, we reached nearly a quarter million households with our message about Fair Trade, while inspiring 10-20,000 groups of trick-or-treaters in the US and Canada to become involved in Fair Trade advocacy.
Now, we hope you'll join us again in December, by participating in Fair Trade Holiday Caroling!
Why participate? In the spirit of the holiday season, you will:
- Transform the lives of many by helping to end poverty by raising awareness of Fair Trade!
- Spread holiday cheer in your community!
- Have fun!
What is Fair Trade Holiday Caroling?
Walking door to door or performing in any public place…congregation, school play, holiday party, subway station, etc, etc.:
- Sing a few carols
- Read a brief Fair Trade Public Education Script to your audience
- Ask your audience to make a Fair Trade New Year's Resolution or pledge to buy Fair Trade holiday gifts…together, the thousands of Resolutions we collect in the US and around the world will make a big impact on expanding the market for Fair Trade farmers and artisans.
What songs would we sing?
Both traditional carols and the clever, amusing, fabulous Fair Trade carols submitted to Global Exchange's Fair Trade Holiday Song Contest during the Summer of 2008…a Songbook is included in the Toolkit and there are additional songs you can print out from the website.
Congratulations to the winners of the contest! You can read the winning carols at the end of this email, and more entries at www.globalexchange.org/cocoa.
When should we sing?
Anytime in December, but we encourage you to consider caroling during the first two weeks of December, in order to invite people to purchase their gifts Fair Trade during holiday shopping.
Visit www.globalexchange.org/cocoa for the Holiday Caroling Toolkit, which includes the Songbook, information on how to carol, and all the materials you need!
Fair Trade Holiday Gifts
The Global Exchange Fair Trade Campaign is calling on the public to consider taking a pledge to buy some or all holiday gifts Fair Trade this year!
Here is a note from Fair Trade Campaign Director, Adrienne Fitch-Frankel:
Ever since I took my pledge to make all of my holiday gift purchasing Fair Trade, my shopping has become so much easier and more satisfying! Every year, I walk into my local Fair Trade store with the list of gifts I need to buy, and walk out an hour later with all my shopping complete. When I distribute my holiday gifts, the entire room of family and friends open their packages and have tears in their eyes as they read about the transformation those gifts made in the lives of another family. Each of my loved ones find it moving and meaningful, in the spirit of the holiday season.
And, as my colleague from the Global Exchange Fair Trade online store, Tex Dworkin, likes to point out…buying Fair Trade gifts is especially important because every time you give a Fair Trade gift, you are sharing information about Fair Trade with someone who might have never heard of Fair Trade products, encouraging them to start buying Fair Trade, too. I hope you will consider joining me in buying Fair Trade gifts this holiday, both online and in Fair Trade stores.
Collectively, we can all make a huge impact for Fair Trade farmers and artisans this holiday season! Please join us!
If you are willing to take the Fair Trade Holiday Gift pledge to buy Fair Trade holiday gifts, please send an email to fairtrade@globalexchange.org with Fair Trade Holiday Gift Pledge in the subject line so we know how many people are participating. Please indicate whether you pledge to buy one more Fair Trade gift than you would have otherwise bought or if you pledge to buy all of your holiday gifts Fair Trade. (PS: Fair Trade coffee or chocolate makes a great, easy gift to buy for all your coworkers!)
Fair Trade retailers are listed at www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/ and www.fairtradefederation.org/ht/d/Memdir/pid/1722.
To take a look at Global Exchange's Fair Trade holiday gift offerings, please visit www.globalexchangestore.org
Fair Trade Holiday Carol Contest Winners (plus the Global Exchange Fair Trade Campaign Director's personal favorite)
Buy Fair Trade
Fair Trade lyrics by:
Castlehill Primary School, Class 4B, 8-9 years old
Cuper, Fife, United Kingdom
Tune: Make New Friends (But Keep the Old)
Winner: Fair Trade Holiday Song Contest - Youth Category
Buy Fairtrade
And help the workers,
Mango, bananas, choc'late, coffee, tea.
To be sung in a Canon (Round)
Fair Trade All The Way
Fair Trade lyrics by:
Louise Nelson
Austin, Texas
Tune: Jingle Bells
Winner: Fair Trade Holiday Song Contest - Adult Category
Handmade crafts, hand-dyed scarves,
Made with loving care
By artisans who benefit
From prices that are fair.
Chocolate bars, coffee beans,
Fair trade all the way.
Oh what fun they are to give
And get on Christmas Day.
When you buy fair trade,
You're buying someone's time
Ensuring they receive
More than just a dime.
When you give fair trade,
You give more than a gift -
You're giving opportunities
To those who need a lift!
Oh, handmade crafts, hand-dyed scarves,
Made with loving care
By artisans who benefit
From prices that are fair.
Chocolate bars, coffee beans,
Fair trade all the way.
Oh what fun they are to give
And get on Christmas Day!
My Favorite Fairtraded Things
Fair Trade lyrics by:
Jack Lucero Fleck
Oakland, California
Tune: My Favorite Things
Bright fair trade labels on coffees and rices
Footballs and baseballs, and sugars and spices,
Shoes and nice dresses, and toys Santa brings--
Some of our favorite fair traded things.
Workers with unions and free, fair elections
Working with environmental protections
Safe working places to stop sufferings--
Fair trade means workers get all of these things.
Food crops organic where farmers make money
Flowers and mangoes, bananas and honey
Mochas and lattes with sweet flavorings--
More of our favorite fair traded things.
Those in sweat shops
Work without stops
Making us feel sad
So we just buy all these fair traded things
And then we don't feel so bad.
2007 ABC News Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.
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