During our very own Work of Human Hands holiday sale at CRS in Baltimore this week, I was one of the baristas selling Fair Trade coffee lattes and promoting handcrafts from places like Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ghana.  But Katy and I also had a lot of fun giving away items.  We raffled off a SERRV gift basket, and equipment from our friends at Fair Trade Sports.  A couple VIP folks (meaning those colleagues whose cubicles were closest to the noise of the sale!) got free  ”Stop the Violence” T-shirts supporting CRS’s work in Sudan.  The t-shirts were made in sweatshop free conditions by the women of Nueva Vida  in Nicaragua.

The shirts are also special because they remind me of my friend and CRS colleague Neal Deles, who took a position in Darfur recently.  I’m so proud of Neal for pursuing his desire to serve directly the people of Sudan, even though it means lots of sacrifices.  He is doing great out there, though, and I thought you might enjoy reading about Neal’s experiences in Sudan and his hope for the future.

If Neal’s work inspires you to do something more this holiday season, it is not too late to host a Work of Human Hands consignment sale.  Call 800-685-7572 to talk to a customer service rep and be sure to order some products from Africa in honor of all the CRS staff and partners working there!

Tags: catholic relief services, consignment sale, crs, holidays, nicaragua, sudan, sweatshop free clothing, work of human hands

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.