Set your sights on some holiday gift shopping at the Alternative Gift Fair from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 at the First United Methodist Church of Riverside, 4845 Brockton Ave. This is your place for handmade gifts and non-profit causes, live music, and homemade soup.
This fair has been a tradition in Riverside for more than 30 years. Many faith communities and non-profit organizations set up booths to sell hand made or sustainably produced gifts that are a fabulous alternative to the mall merchandise
Third world crafts are among the many options available at the Alternative Gift Fair.
option. The fair has handmade baskets and jewelry from Ten Thousand Villages, greeting cards and purses from artists at Temple Beth El, the traditional Heifer International booth and handmade arts and crafts from the UMW, Green Sanctuary from the Universalist Unitarian church; Inland Communities Fellowship of Reconciliation; and others.
Started in 1981 at First Christian Church, the fair has broadened its mission to include people from a variety of faith traditions. Each year raises in the neighborhood of $15,000 for non-profit causes.
“A lot of people received some wonderful holiday gifts,” said David Mowry, a longtime Riverside environmental activist and one of the organizers of the fair.
Find out more on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alternativegiftfair
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