- Craft
- Fair-trade artisan goods
Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit fair-trade pioneer selling handmade goods from artisans around the world, including menorahs and a Jewish blessing garland.
It began in 1946, when Edna Ruth Byler, a Mennonite volunteer from Akron, Pennsylvania, met skilled embroiderers in Puerto Rico's La Plata Valley. She paid them a fair price, sold their needlework to neighbors from the trunk of her car, and reinvested the earnings. With Mennonite Central Committee support, that grew into partnerships in more than 30 countries; the name Ten Thousand Villages came in 1996. It is a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
Its menorahs come from partners like Noah's Ark in Moradabad, India, working in aluminum, iron and recycled bicycle chain.
Good to know
- Founded1946, by Edna Ruth Byler with Mennonite Central Committee support
- Fair tradeFounding member of the World Fair Trade Organization
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