Northshore United Church of Chri

Alternative Gift Fair

Saturday, December 3, 2011
9:00 am - 3:30 pm

There is a Christmas miracle, and it is called the Alternative Gift Fair.

The 9^th Annual Alternative Gift Fair in Woodinville is a fundraiser for nonprofits, and a way to transform the holidays from commercialism to compassion. Although put on by Northshore United Church of Christ in Woodinville, 100% of all funds go directly to the 17 local, national, and international nonprofits who will be gathered in one festive hall. It is our traditional way of honoring the true meaning of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the Festival of Lights, winter solstice—all of which bring hope to a dark world.

If not now, when?

The safety net is unraveling in this country. In East King County, a single mother with two children must earn $65,700 a year (the most in the state) just to buy basic food and shelter, not including a phone or other ‘extras.‘ The Hopelink Food Bank often has empty shelves. But the unmet food needs here pale in the face of Somalia mothers having nothing—not even a half-cup of rice—to feed their children. Newly returned from Kenya, one of our members says, “Do you know how many children I could feed, for the cost of one latte that an unsatisfied customer wants remade because it doesn‘t have enough foam?”‖

Come meet the miracle workers

For one day during the Alternative Gift Fair, you and your children can come meet the people who make miracles happen every day, transforming just a few pennies or dollars into food for hungry families, warm blankets for war refugees and earthquake victims huddled in tents, a friendly face to visit a lonely, homebound grandmother.

You’ll hear uplifting stories, and be able to show your kids, family, friends how just a small gift can give twice—a small gift to your loved one can work wonders for others around the world.

Sounds compelling - but just what the heck IS an "alternative gift fair"?

An alternative to the hyper-commercialized, hyper-rushed holiday season
With gifts of small donations that bring a small token or gift card from a favorite nonprofit telling exactly what your gift will do in honor of a loved one. Or you can buy free trade, handmade items from Ten Thousand Villages
Our Fair is the opposite of (1) a solitary search for online gifts in front of a computer or (2) a hurried visit to crowded malls filled with rushing shoppers. Instead, the Alternative Gift Fair is a small, warm hall filled with friendly faces where you can enjoy some hot cider and spend an uplifting hour hearing stories of compassion and find truly heart-warming gifts.

Please do bring the kids, to show them what Christmas is really all about. They can relax and “Read with Rover” (the amazing dog who helps kids read) while you meet people and “shop.”

If you want to give actual gifts, visit our Ten Thousand Village “store” at the fair. Your fair-trade purchases of handmade jewelry, home decor and gifts help artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to support their families and communities. For information, click here.

For those who don’t need items but do want a heart-warming gift, PLEASE NOTE: that if you cannot attend but wish to buy an “alternative gift” from one or more favorite causes listed below, email us at office@northshoreucc.org with “AGF Gift Request” in the subject line, and we’ll provide a personal shopper for you!

IF YOU CAN’T COME TO THE ALTERNATIVE GIFT FAIR IN PERSON, we offer a PERSONAL/VIRTUAL SHOPPING SERVICE. Find one or two “gifts” you’d like to give and mark on the Shopping List how much you’d like to give to each organization in someone’s honor. Write one check (made out to NUCC) for the total, and on Fair Day, we’ll gather your gift card(s) to mail to you with your tax-deduction receipt. To download a copy of the shopping list, click here.

All gift donations are tax-deductible to any of the following nonprofits who will be at our 2011 Fair:

	Alzheimer’s Association provides a 24/7 Helpline, local support groups, and free educational resources for patients, families, employers and caregivers living with Alzheimer’s Disease. It also directly supports research, including in Seattle.
	Camp to Belong Northwest reunites brothers and sisters from the Pacific Northwest who have been placed in separate foster, adoptive or kinship homes: The siblings come together for an unforgettable special Summer Camp Program.
	Church World Service-Church World Service works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice.
	Eastside Domestic Violence Program-EDVP’s programs and services have provided more than 100,000 victims of abuse with a path from domestic violence to self-sufficiency.
	The Eastside Timebank is an old-time, new-tech Eastside community where neighbors help neighbors by exchanging skills and services ranging from job-coaching and budgeting to cooking and craft lessons. Donations at the Alternative Gift Fair will help provide free annual memberships to unemployed veterans.
	Farms for Life supports local farmers, protects farmland, and helps people in need, by providing quality produce from local farms and nutritional education to people in transitional programs through the local agencies that serve them.
	Habitat for Humanity - To empower families, build community, and create hope through an aggressive home-building ministry. Habitat for Humanity of East King County is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International.
	HEIFER International helps end world hunger and poverty by providing families with the tools and animals to first become nutritionally self-sufficient and then spread the animals’ offspring throughout their local community, to create the town’s self-reliance and sustainability.
	Homeward Pet Adoption Center has been rescuing, sheltering, medically treating and re-homing dogs and cats with new families for 20 years. They have just moved to a new, much larger facility in Woodinville, served by a small staff and hundreds of volunteers. Donations will support their medical treatments, including low-cost spay/neutering services for the community, and supplies for these animal companions.
	Hopelink is East King County’s central nonprofit promoting self-sufficiency for all members of our community through assistance with jobs, food, transitional housing, and more.
	Ratta Girls Hostel Project: In rural Kenya, girls who want to continue in “upper school” must walk miles in the early morning and to get home after school (often at risk on empty rural roads), then cook supper, care for siblings, carry water and firewood till late in the evening. NUCC’s own Kathryn Frazier worked with a village to build a hostel where girls could safely stay during the week, focus on their studies, and prepare for college. The hostel opens in January: Kathryn is raising funds to support its year-round operation.
	NAMI Eastside is East King County’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). We work to improve the quality of life of those persons affected by acute and chronic mental illness through support groups, education and targeted advocacy.
	PFLAG is the organization of Parents, Families and Friends of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons. We celebrate diversity, support our members and friends, and work for a society that embraces everyone, including those of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Funds from this Alternative Gift Fair go toward providing college scholarships to those youth who are working to make this a welcoming world.
	Reading With Rover helps children discover the joy of reading: They develop literacy skills and confidence in a uniquely loving environment with specially trained Reading with Rover Dogs.
	Save Their Smiles: The goal of their program is to improve the life-long dental health of Miskito Indian villagers in one of the poorest areas in Nicaragua. Provides toothbrushes and regular fluoride applications to children as well as dental care education to help them learn how to care for their teeth.
	The Sophia Way provides supportive services, overnight shelter, and one-bedroom apartments to women transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing and an independent, stable life. Currently we are the only staffed overnight shelter for single adult women on the Eastside.
	Tent City 4, in partnership with host Eastside churches, provides about 35,000 free and safe “bed-nights” of shelter for the homeless.
	The Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall teaches children and adults about the world of nature, tracking, and respect for the earth. Donations at the Alternative Gift Fair will support scholarships for low-income city youth to attend their acclaimed summer camp programs.
	Ten Thousand Villages: For those attending the Alternative Gift Fair in person, there will be a Ten Thousand Villages “mini-store” selling handcrafted gifts, jewelry, textiles, art and sculpture from artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Ten Thousand Villages' mission is to help these artisans in developing countries to earn a living wage by creating a long-term fair trade relationship. This nonprofit organization is a program of the Mennonite Central Committee. Sorry, but we can’t offer “virtual sales.”