Walker Church first annual Fair Trade Sale

Starting October 23 and running through November 18, Walker’s Peace with Justice Committee is raising money and awareness by selling Equal Exchange products – chocolate, cocoa, coffee, tea, and olive oil. We are using the Equal Exchange fundraising platform to do this. Walker Church will receive 40% of the sale proceeds! We have set our fundraising goal at $5000.00 gross sales, which will earn $2000.00 for the church.

We need sellers to make this goal! Here is how it works if you want to become a seller. First, email Deb Ramage at deborama@gmail.com. I will meet up with you (or maybe Julie, the co-chair of the sale) and give you an Equal Exchange catalogue. It lists the retail price we are selling items at, and includes an envelope for cash with space for 13 customers’ orders. You have until November 18 to sell and if you sell to more than 13 people, let us know and we’ll get you a second envelope. Collect the money when you sell, and hold onto it, and tell your customers they will get their product by December 6 at the latest.

On November 18 and 19, Julie and I will be at Walker to collect your sales envelopes, including money. Shortly thereafter we will submit the order to Equal Exchange. Either just before or just after the Thanksgiving weekend we will receive the products, and we will do another two evenings at the church where all the sellers can come in and pick up their products for distribution back to the buyers. In both these cases, if the times we set aside don’t work for you, we can work something out for individuals.

Here’s some tips about selling. You can sell just to your close neighbors and family and friends. You can buy stuff to give as gifts to your family and friends and that counts as a sale too. (We will even supply little cards to go with gifts so recipients can learn about the fair trade benefits.) If you’re too busy to do much selling, but have teenage or young adult kids, pass the envelope on to them along with my email in case of questions. You can definitely sell to other Walker Church folks! You can sell at your workplace. You can have a small house party and sell like it’s Tupperware.

Since a big part of this sale is raising awareness as well as raising money, check out this article in last January’s Southside Pride for a deep dive into slavery-free chocolate and why that’s so important. Or check out Equal Exchange’s own website for more on the entire Fair Trade story.