Handmade Expressions was proud to be an official sponsor of World Fair Trade Day (WFTD) 2009. WFTD is a global celebration of Fair Trade, with events taking place in over 80 countries. Together with the Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN), we used this opportunity to celebrate the milestones Fair Trade has achieved and continued to raise awareness about this movement.

Austin Events Hosted by Handmade Expressions

All in all, Handmade Expressions’ efforts reached upwards of 230 people on May 8, 2009. These are the formal events we held:

Drumz Circles

On Friday, May 09, at 7:00pm, Handmade Expressions held a celebration for World Fair Trade Day at Drumz, on 3700 1/2 Kerbey Lane, to celebrate World Fair Trade Day 2009!

We had drum circles, free Fair Trade chocolate, Fair Trade coffee provided by Texas Coffee Traders, and information about why Fair Trade is important to all of us. Check out the pictures in our slide show above, as well as the videos below! NOTE: Make sure you click on the HQ button after playing the video!

PART 1: Drum Circles + African Singing (click on HQ)

PART 2: Fair Trade Information (click on HQ)

Whole Earth Provision joint celebration

Whole Earth Provision is a local chain of stores that carry various products, from TOMS shoes to Fair Trade jewelry. One Handmade expressions representative was sent to each one of the Whole Earth Provision stores in Austin (Lamar, Westgate and Campus) with free Fair Trade chocolate and coffee, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Friday, May 08. We were able to spread the word about World Fair Trade Day and educate people about the benefits of Fair Trade! Thank you Whole Earth Provision!

UPS Fair Trade Route

Bonnie, our super rad UPS lady, volunteered to distribute Fair Trade chocolate and Fair Trade information at every one of her stops on Friday, May 08! She has grown to appreciate Fair Trade after months of picking up our packages, and was happy to help spread the word about WFTD09. After she was done, she said she had reached more than 70 individuals (including business owners and people in their homes).

“People loved learning about Fair Trade. Many of them hadn’t even heard of the term, but were happy that there were people out there trying to get the word out”, Bonnie commented. She added, “It was great that I had your educational material, which helped explain Fair Trade in easy terms!”.

Thank you so much Bonnie for your help!