Celebrating 5 years!
Sunday, August 31

Fair for Five: World Fare Celebrates Five Years! will take place on Sunday, August 31 from 1-5 p.m. during HarmonyFest. Stop in to enjoy gourmet fair trade cupcakes, coffee and tea, get great deals on fair trade products from around the world, and sign up for a drawing to win one of five prizes, including a $55 gift certificate.  A birthday party will take place at 5 p.m., with cake and a group photo of all past and present volunteers and Tribe members.

Every year on Labor Day weekend, Harmony Fest fills Three Rivers’ Main Street with a community celebration of art and diversity.  As part of this year’s event, World Fare will celebrate five years of being a presence for local and global justice in downtown Three Rivers.  Visitors to 37 N. Main Street during the hours of 1-5pm on Sunday, August 31 can enjoy complimentary fair trade cupcakes, coffee and tea; get great deals on fair trade products from around the world; and sign up for a drawing to win one of five prizes, including a $55 gift certificate.  Fair trade dark chocolate birthday cake with mocha java filling will be served at 5 p.m. when the candles are blown out.  There will also be a group photo of all past and present store volunteers and Tribe members, as well as an opportunity to write down encouragement and future ideas for the store.  The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

World Fare is a non-profit, volunteer-run shop marketing the goods of people from economically disadvantaged communities around the world.  All of the items in the store represent a fair wage that allows workers to adequately support their families with food and shelter and collaborate for health care, education, and other community projects.

Tina Rice, a volunteer at World Fare since 2004, is currently serving as a volunteer trainer for the store.  “World Fare is a wonderful vehicle to help get the word out that our purchases can mean so much more,” said Rice.  “When we choose to buy fair trade, the money that we spend goes so much further then just into the till of that retail operation. It goes all the way back to the…maker of the item being purchased.”

Mary Recher has volunteered since 2003, when World Fare first opened its doors.  She explains, “Globally, World Fare provides a great opportunity to assist artisans in other cultures, affirms and encourages their creativity allowing them the means to support themselves and their families and contributing to their self-esteem and dignity.”  Recher has since recruited her husband David as a volunteer and the couple shares a weekly shift at the store.  They do so not just because of the global benefits, but because of the way they see World Fare working in their local community.  “World Fare contributes to our local community by being a presence in the downtown thereby adding another business and by occupying an existing building,” said Recher.  “It is an educational process for local residents and visitors to learn more about fair trade products and how they benefit others.”

Matt Deames, another weekly volunteer since World Fare’s 2003 grand opening, was instrumental in helping the store begin as a room in St. John’s Lutheran Church, where he was the pastor until recently.  St. John’s has been serving fair trade coffee and tea at coffee hour for many years and the store built on the church’s commitment to global justice.  Deames appreciates the way visitors to World Fare are impressed to find such an organization in Three Rivers.  “It has been wonderful to see a store like World Fare actually make a go of it in our small rural town of Three Rivers, Michigan, said Deames.  “It never ceases to amaze me some of the comments that are often expressed by people who live in a much more metropolitan area, that they are completely surprised to find a store like World Fare in a town like Three Rivers.”

Co-founder and board member Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma agrees that maintaining a fair trade store in a small town can be a challenge, compared to larger metropolitan areas. “My wife Kirstin and I really sensed a strong community spirit when we moved to Three Rivers in 2002,” said Vander Giessen-Reitsma.  “We wanted to be a part of the local business culture in a way that would benefit Three Rivers, as well as people in need around the world.”  Having been involved in a fair trade organization on the south side of Chicago, the Vander Giessen-Reitsmas were inspired by the history and architecture of downtown Three Rivers, as well as the community’s commitment to volunteerism.

“I volunteer at World Fare because of the mission of this store,” said Rice.  “We are part of a world organization that offers dignity instead of charity. That offers children the opportunity to go to school, to encourage those that work with fair trade to help their fellow neighbors and to give back to their own communities, to encourage people to learn how to become more self-sufficient and to be proud of themselves. Fair trade teaches; it teaches people skills, builds their knowledge of the world and creates better citizens globally.”

Recher echoes Rice’s sentiments.  “I appreciate the opportunity to participate in what World Fare stands for,” she said.  “It is a way to help others and myself learn more about the global community and to support a local business. I have met some great people, both shoppers and other volunteers and, last but not least, it is fun!”

Those interested in volunteering at World Fare should contact Tina Rice for more information and to find out about scheduling and training (tina.rice@abbott.com, 269-718-8826).