Chicago's World Fair Trade Day an AMAZING SUCCESS

As an active board member of Chicago Fair Trade for the past three years, I've had the pleasure of seeing our fair trade community in Chicago grow by leaps and bounds. It's been humbling, exciting and exhausting at the same time!

Yesterday, May 4, www.World-Shoppe.com had the opportunity to take part in our second annual World Fair Trade Day celebration in Daley Plaza, in downtown Chicago. WOW. Talk about an amazing day! If there is a recession going on, you wouldn't know it based on how PACKED our www.World-Shoppe.com booth was! People were lined up to see all of our fair trade gifts, fair trade jewlery and to just learn more about fair trade. The fact that our event coincided with the week before Mother's Day didn't hurt, nor did the AMAZING Chicago weather, but what was really exciting was being able to really share the stories of our artisan groups with so many people who had never heard of the term fair trade before.

Countless people stopped by to ask what fair trade meant, why it was important to support, and I can't tell you how many people commented on how absolutely reasonable our prices were for products that were handmade!

I'm also very excited that most of the major media outlets in Chicago covered the event either the days leading up to it or literally the morning of our event! NBC5 Chicago covered two of our vendors, ABC7 Chicago featured yours truly (Megy Karydes) http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=6792522 as a representative of Chicago Fair Trade on Saturday morning LIVE on the air and we even enticed Ed Curran, meteorologist with CBS2 Chicago to do a segment LIVE yesterday morning just as we were opening our event to the public!

We also got some love from TimeOut Chicago and Chicago Tribune's RedEye and had our FULL PAGE FEATURE in this month's issue of Mindful Metropolis magazine.

And, Chicago Public Radio did a wonderful 20 minute segment with Chicago Fair Trade's executive director, Nancy Jones & Pushpika Freitas of Marketplace: Handiwork of India on Friday: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/content.aspx?audioID=33928!

We're not quite yet a Fair Trade City in Chicago...but with this type of support and encouragement, I'm more hopeful than ever that we'll proudly claim the title very soon. Please join us in this important movement. Support fair trade whenever you can...ask for fair trade coffee at your local coffee shop or seek out retailer who carry fair trade gifts. Give your mother a fair trade necklace; a newly married couple a fair trade gift; a new graduate a fair trade gift certificate! The possibilities are endless. By choosing to re-allocate your dollars to companies that make a difference, we're all part of the solution!

Thank you again for your amazing support. I'm honored to be part of the fair trade movement and I hope you'll join more than 80 countries around the world this Saturday, May 9, as more than 50,000 Americans take a "Fair Trade Break" as part of World Fair Trade Day! Spread the message! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! :-)

Smiling,

-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com

55,000 Strong for World Fair Trade Day, 2009

The Fair Trade Resource Network is on a mission to find Americans, 55,000 to be exact, to take a fair trade break on May 9 of this year. A day before Mother's Day in the United States, the non-profit organization wants us to join hands with our international neighbors to celebrate fair trade.

A lofty goal, yes. But Finland hit over 50,000 just last October. Can Americans do it? Absolutely!

Share this video with your friends: http://tinyurl.com/d79xtn, plan and then post your event on the organization's Web site: www.FTRN.org.

Together we can make a difference! I hope you'll join me and your fellow Americans as we show the world that everything is better when it's fair trade!

-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com

www.World-Shoppe.com might be visiting South Africa!

I'm so excited - there might be a chance to visit some artisan groups in South Africa later this summer! As many of you already know, www.World-Shoppe.com 'currently doesn't offer many fair trade products from South Africa. Part of the reason is because there aren't many groups who are certified as fair trade in South Africa; another is the cost of shipping is oftentimes high, depending on how much is shipped over at once; finally, quality control is a big issue and unless you have the ability to really work with your artisans, sometimes what you think you're getting isn't really what you're going to get (and that's really true with any artisan group or company you're working with!).

However, I'm hopeful that this summer will find me in South Africa so I can learn more about the producers whose handiworks would be so very much appreciated in the United States. I should know in May whether I've been approved to visit and will share more details about my travel itinerary at that time!

In the meantime, thank you for your support of fair trade products! World Fair Trade Day is fast approaching on May 9 and we all hope you'll choose to take a "fair trade break" on May 9 and help the U.S. break a world record of the world's largest fair trade break! For more information, visit www.FTRN.org where you'll find free marketing and promotional collateral and information on how you can form your own fair trade event or participate in one already planned near your community!

Thank you again, fair traders! Until next time,

-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com