Chat with Cat: It Takes a Village, or Ten Thousand

For the month of November, Chat with Cat will be highlighting nonprofit organizations whose missions are tied to that of Montreat Conference Center. For more information on Nonprofit Awareness Month, check out materials from the N.C. Center for Nonprofits.

I'm trying to remember what was the first item I purchased from Ten Thousand Villages in Montreat, and I can't. I remember a lot of purchases during the summers when I attended the Worship & Music Conferences: a silver anklet with tiny bells, a hummingbird ornament made from some kind of nut, and earrings galore. I don't remember the first, but I have always seen Ten Thousand Villages as a Montreat fixture, perched high atop the Moore Center building, and strategically placed next to the most popular of all summer spots, the Huckleberry.

Ten Thousand Villages has had a home in Montreat since 1983, even though the organization did not adopt its current name until 1996. (The name, by the way, comes from a Gandhi quote: "India is not to be found in its few cities but in the 700,000 villages. We have hardly ever paused to inquire if these folks get sufficient to eat and clothe themselves with.")

Store Manager Ellen McClintock says that being part of the Montreat community has played an important role in Ten Thousand Villages' 26 years here. She says that the faith-based conference groups that come to Montreat are always supportive of the organization's fair-trade mission and pursuit of eco-justice. Because of this support, Ten Thousand Villages has been able to use their Montreat location as a base to reach the wider community and to promote fair-trade initiatives throughout Western North Carolina.

The international organization behind Ten Thousand Villages was founded back in 1946. A woman named Edna Ruth Byler was traveling in Puerto Rico where she was struck by the overwhelming poverty of the area. She purchased items from local artisans and began to sell them out of the trunk of her car. Sixty years later, the organization she started (now a nonprofit of the Mennonite Central Committee) celebrated a year of sales topping $20 million. Today Ten Thousand Villages operates more than 150 stores across the U.S. and Canada, purchasing all its merchandise from artisans at a fair price.

Sometimes it's easy to see Ten Thousand Villages as just another place to shop. It is one of my go-to places before holidays and birthdays, or any time I need a new pair of earrings or a nifty gift for someone. But really it's so much more than this. Shopping at Ten Thousand Villages ensures the employment of countless Third World artisans who are able to feed and take care of their families because of your shopping decision. And supporting this wonderful organization also supports the efforts of those striving for fair trade practices and eco-justice worldwide.

To learn more about Ten Thousand Villages and how they choose their artisan partners, check out their website. (And do some early holiday shopping while you're there!)

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Cat is the Sales Associate at Montreat Conference Center. She loves helping people plan the perfect Montreat Experience and would love to hear from you about how this blog can help you.

Cat can be reached at catw@montreat.org or at @Cat_Montreat.