Find holiday treasures at fair trade store in Schaumburg

Are you looking for a way to make Christmas and the holidays even more meaningful? Maybe a way to make a difference in the world? Well, by purchasing your gifts at Gifts of the World, a fair trade shop located at 888 S. Roselle Road, in Schaumburg, you are not only giving beautiful, handmade, one of a kind gifts to your loved ones, but you are also supporting an artisan in a developing country.

These artisans are living in communities that often lack bare essentials like clean water. Gifts of the World is a ministry of Christ Community Mennonite Church and the store is totally run by volunteers. By purchasing gifts at Gifts of the World, the artisans are getting a fair wage and are able to send their children to school. Just $1,200 in sales supports one of these artisans for an entire year.

Gifts of the World has an extensive collection of over 75 unique Nativities from around the globe, places such as Peru, Vietnam, Kenya, Bangladesh and Haiti, to name a few. Each nativity scene is unique and are often made of recycled or natural materials such as newspaper, oil drums, coconuts, pop can tops, banana bark or stone. There are also beautiful crèches made of olive wood from the West Bank.

The shop also sells handmade jewelry, scarves, toys, and home decor as well as fair trade coffee, tea, and chocolate.

Store hours are 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through December, before reverting back to Thursday through Saturday in January.

For more information about the store, call (847) 895-3676.

• Submit 'Your News' at www.dailyherald.com/share.