2024 Alternative Gift Fair
Looking for a Meaningful Gift?
This year, make your holiday shopping meaningful by choosing life-changing gifts at the Alternative Gift Fair! Whether it’s honoring a loved one or making a difference in the world, your gifts will leave a lasting impact.
How It Works:
- Unique Gifts for Everyone: Find something special for that hard-to-shop-for person.
- Gifts that Keep on Giving: Your purchases support essential causes and communities.
- Flexible Pricing: You choose the amount, ensuring you can make a difference within your budget.
Honor the special people in your life with gifts that bring hope, improve lives, and inspire change.
Visit Us and Make a Difference
Join us at the 2024 Alternative Gift Fair and give gifts that matter. Each purchase has the power to change lives, both locally and globally. Together, we can make this holiday season brighter for those in need!
Featured Organizations & Their Impact:
Aaron’s Gifts From Home
Support U.S. military personnel by sending care packages in memory of Aaron, who was killed in Afghanistan. Shop T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and more at their Midland Mall store.
Store Hours: Wednesdays, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Donation Info: 3603 Sweetbrier Terrace, Midland, MI 48642
ACT – Agape Community Transformation
Purchase beautiful handcrafted items from Uganda, including baskets, jewelry, and sewn goods. Proceeds empower women in Uganda and support Blessed Sacrament’s partnership with the Muko Sub-County.
Cancer Services of Midland
Help local cancer patients by contributing to their urgent needs support fund. Your donation provides transportation, lodging, and prevention programs.
Civitan Club
The Midland Civitan Club is dedicated to helping people in their own communities with an emphasis on people with disabilities and their families. You can purchase Claxton Fruitcakes to help support their cause.
DRAW – Disaster Relief at Work
This organization is dedicated to providing relief services to communities that have been hit by natural disasters. DRAW was started with a singular premise in mind: That a natural disaster is the only time in the human experience where a person or family goes from everyday life to rock bottom instantaneously. They want to be an organization that is there with whatever those survivors need as soon as they need it. Our first response teams will sift through the remains of a house to salvage valuables, move a tree that has fallen and blocked them in their driveway, or just sit and listen as they grieve. DRAW will have children’s craft kits, holiday decor items made from repurposed wood, wood wreath ornaments and crocheted bags made from recycled grocery bags. These bags are weather resistant and are given out to victims of natural disasters. You will be able to purchase a bag or sponsor one for DRAW to give to a disaster victim in need.
Fair Trade Coffee
Enjoy coffee, tea, and chocolate produced under fair conditions that support farmers and promote sustainability. Purchase Advent Calendars with fair trade chocolates for a delicious holiday treat.
Global Compassion
Global Compassion is a nonprofit public charity run by volunteers to help people in need. Projects include supporting Ukrainian refugees, drilling bore wells for water providing South Sudan educational support. Other endeavors include empowering women to self-sufficiency, and community outreach to help those in emergency needs. You will be able to purchase of Indira’s Homemade Exotic Jams, pure silk scarves, soup packages, jewelry and Ukrainian snacks.
Global Mamas
Global Mamas is a nonprofit organization helping small women-led enterprises in Africa. Purchase handcrafts from women-led businesses in Africa, ensuring sustainable livelihoods for families in need.
Guatemalan Stove Team
Teams from Blessed Sacrament and other churches have gone to Guatemala to install these new fuel efficient and cleaner burning stoves which replace dangerous open cooking fires. Local entrepreneurs have started factories using local labour and materials to produce these stoves. Contribute to cleaner, more efficient stoves for families in Guatemala, helping improve health and the environment.
For more info, contact: Kevin Shaughnessy
Heifer International
Heifer International is a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability. Heifer projects around the world help families achieve self-reliance through the gift of livestock and training. Over the last year, Heifer was able to assist more than 1.9 million families directly and indirectly. Gifts are passed from recipient to recipient until entire communities are transformed. Heifer was listed by the Harris Interactive Brand survey as one of the top 10 most trusted non-profits in America. Make a donation to purchase an animal for a family in need.
Holy Land Carvings
This group support Christian families in Israel either through creating jobs by selling the handcrafted items, donating to Christian organizations, or directly aiding housing expenses for poor families living there locally. You will be able to purchase religious items made from olive wood.
Home to Stay Housing Alliance
This agency, previously known as Midland Area Homes, has been serving Midland County for over 40 years improving housing conditions for safe and independent living. They are a resource for rental assistance and furniture pick-up and distribution.
Ladies of Blessed Sacrament
This group provides opportunities for women parishioners to become involved in social and service activities and raise funds for and distribute funds to charitable projects within the parish and the Saginaw Diocese. All women registered at Blessed Sacrament Parish are automatically members. The Ladies will have homemade cookies for sale.
Midland County Food Assistance Network
The goal of this organization is to ensure every family has enough food. In addition to their regular food program, they provide vouchers for nutritional supplements to cancer patients, sponsor monthly mobile pantries and the Backpack Buddies Program which provides a backpack of food each weekend to low-income children. Make a donation to this agency to honor a family member, neighbor or friend.
Foster Families Navigation & Resource Center
Their mission is to equip and support foster families to be able to continue this crucial work for years to come.
Midland Kids First
This Midland County organization provides evidenced-based interventions for at-risk youth to assure they become well adjusted, responsible, and contributing members of the community. One program is the Midland Mentors program which seeks to provide positive role models for youth in the day treatment program at the Midland County juvenile care center thereby reducing the likelihood that these youth will engage in high-risk behaviors. Other programs include a substance use disorder treatment initiative, identifying children in unsafe environments and helping high-need, high-risk and emotionally disturbed youth stay with their families.
Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) of Midland
Supports the vision of International NP’s “Worldwide culture of peace in which conflicts within and between communities and countries are managed through nonviolent means.” Our local chapter raises donations for international peace and also has helped train Midland area students and adults in conflict resolution skills.
Nothing-But-Nets
Malaria infects more than 500 million people a year and kills more than a million. Malaria is both a preventable and treatable disease. Despite the magnitude of the problem, there is a simple and cost-effective solution to prevent malaria deaths-bed nets. Bed nets work by creating a protective barrier against mosquitoes at night, when the vast majority of transmissions occur. A family of four can sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net, safe from malaria, for up to four years. The benefits of bed nets extend even further than the family. When enough nets are used, the insecticide used to deter mosquitoes makes entire communities safer—including even those individuals who do not have nets. $10 is all that is needed to purchase one net.
Peanut Butter Project
In 1999, Dr. Mark Manary, a Bay City native, went to Malawi to study malnutrition. He worked with a number of people to develop a therapy food that didn’t spoil or needed to be cooked, was energy dense and could be given in small amounts. Today this peanut butter formula is being given to thousands of malnourished children in Malawi. 95% of children receiving this formula reach their ideal weight for their height The formulation is produced and packaged in Malawi which helps support the local economy. For $1.00, children will be able decorate sugar cookies with proceeds benefiting the Peanut Butter Project. You will also be able to make a contribution and receive a peanut ornament.
Phoenix Community Farm
A non-profit farm that serves the Midland community with not only fresh produce, but also with education about growing, harvesting, preparing, eating, & preserving produce. Their produce is often shared with those in need of food. They will have freeze dried herbs for sale.
Red Dirt Road
Red Dirt Road was co-founded by the Harpswell Foundation and former parishioner Marie Eckstein. The Harpswell Foundation works to Empower a New Generation of Women Leaders in Cambodia. Red Dirt Road helps women in a remote village in Cambodia design, produce and market beautiful handmade fashion accessories, enabling them to build their own business to support their families in this impoverished country. All profits are returned to the women.
Reese Endeavor of Midland
Reece Endeavor of Midland is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to providing decent, affordable homes for individuals with a range of special needs. This organization currently owns and rents more than 30 homes throughout Midland County. Their mission is to meet the growing housing needs of people with special needs throughout Midland County – they want to offer them stability and affordability and help them become integrated into the community.
Royal Family Kid’s Club
Royal Family Kid’s Clubs offers a way to mentor foster children at a critical developmental stage (ages 6-12) and build healthy new patterns that can change their lives. They offer an intensive, year-round program through multi-denominational neighborhood churches – with no fees charged to foster families. They also provide free 5-day residential summer camps with one counselor for every 2 children building a week of positive memories. They are the nation’s leading network of camps for abused, neglected and abandoned children.
Salvation Army Adopt-A-Family
Make Christmas joyful for a family in need by adopting a family through The Salvation Army’s program. The Adopt-A-Family program, is designed to provide Christmas gifts and food to needy families. In Midland County many families will sign up to be adopted but few will be adopted.
Call: (989)-496-2787 for more info or visit the website.
Serrv International
SERRV is a nonprofit organization with a mission to eradicate poverty wherever it resides by providing opportunity and support to artisans and farmers worldwide. SERRV works with thousands of small-scale artisans and farmers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and other developing regions of the world by marketing their handcrafts. In addition to purchasing and marketing products, Serrv works with producers to assist them in becoming economically self sufficient through product design, training, information, technical assistance and market access. You will be able to purchase a wide variety of hand crafted products that will benefit the artisans supported by Serrv.
Shelterhouse
The mission of Shelterhouse it is to serve, heal, and empower survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault by providing safety, shelter, counseling, and advocacy. All of their services are 100% free and confidential. They provide emergency shelter, transitional supportive housing programs, one-on-one counseling, support groups, legal advocacy, court accompaniment and sexual assault nursing examinations.
The Arc of Midland
The Arc of Midland is a nonprofit organization which promotes the general welfare of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and increases their presence, participation and inclusion in the community.
This event is sponsored by the Blessed Sacrament Social Justice Committee.