WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

"So, what do you DO with the money from sales?" This is a question often asked of the volunteers at the Global Initiatives Fair Trade Store. This is certainly a fair question as G.I.F.T.S. is non-profit and staffed by volunteers. There is "profit" or as we say "surplus to reinvest". So let's begin at the beginning with our story . . . . .

As part of the 2000 Jubilee Initiative of the Anglican Church of Canada, G.I.F.T.S. was created with seed money through the Outreach Committees of St. Andrew's Cowichan Station and St. John's Cobble Hill. A commitment to work towards economic equity and the enhancement of global community began. With this investment, initial product was purchased. At the end of a successful first season St.John's Outreach Committee decided to pursue other initiatives and gave their blessing to St. Andrew's continued commitment to G.I.F.T.S. For the next two years, G.I.F.T.S. held small Saturday bazaars in different churches and other locations in Duncan. As Fair Trade was enthusiastically embraced in the Valley, G.I.F.T.S. decided to take the bold step of renting a store in a downtown location, opening six days a week for the 5 weeks before Christmas. This process continued until July 2010 when St. Andrew's was disestablished. A group of former parishioners committed to Fair Trade decided to open a year-round location in conjunction with the Centre for Progressive Christianity. G.I.F.T.S. assests were donated to this new charity, fulfilling the mandate established by St. Andrew's that "should their initiative cease to exist, the assets were to be donated to a like-minded organization".

Each year we look closely at our "profit". Our first priority is re-ordering from each of the co-ops. If we have more funds than we project we need for the coming year, we donate to Canadian Charities. We sometimes send grants to one of the co-ops. We gave $500.00 to "Serve Nepal", which repatriates Nepali women and girls who have been trafficked into the sex trade in India. Our grant helped them set-up a crafts workshop at their Centre. A gift of $450.00 was sent to The Kidzpositive Family Fund of Cape Town, South Africa, which helps AIDS positive women provide for their children by making beadwork items. We presented the founder of Assam Tea, Rasheed, with a grant of $500 when he visited the store in 2007. Our largest grant of $1,000.00 went to Altyn Oimk or Golden Thimble Co-op in Kyrgyzstan. The women there create items using traditional felting techniques. It was a pleasure for G.I.F.T.S. to host a reception for the founder of this co-op Janyl, who was brought to Canada through CIDA. Janyl shared with us how they used the grant to purchase a machine which has reduced the labour in one part of the felting process from twenty hours to three.

So yes, there is "profit" from a financial perspective, but more importantly there is "profit" from a personal perspective. Each volunteer and shopper can feel assured that the time they have spent and the purchases they have made have contributed in a very practical way to the well-being of our sisters and brothers around the world. Neighbour to Neighbour. Fair Trade is Fair for ALL!