If you are looking for meaningful gifts for your closest friends and family and want to support a good cause, check out the JustGifts Market, an annual gift market hosted at St. Barnabas Lutheran Church. This local event supports international and local humanitarian projects.
“I had people to give gifts to, but they were people that already had it all,” says Margie Vigoren, a volunteer for JustGifts Market, adding that this market provided a unique solution to the annual stress of gift giving.
Ten artisans offer their local wares each year and 100 percent of the proceeds from those creative works are donated to one of 10 different humanitarian projects, including those that help women start businesses by giving them micro-loans, support education programs for Haitian orphanages and bring water purification systems to rural areas.
“I could give my friends a beautiful gift and tell them that this gift represents the beginning of a better future for someone less fortunate,” says Vigoren.
This year, customers will be able to buy stained glass from local artist Mac McMillan and watercolors from local artist Gail Speckmann. There’s also jewelry, quilts, holiday decorations, hats, scarves and more, all created by local Minnesota artists, as well as a small selection of items from Ten Thousand Villages retail store.
