'Tis the Season: VSA Texas Holiday Benefit Hosted by Ten Thousand Villages

I know, I know… it is not even Halloween yet, but I just scheduled our VSA Texas Christmas Benefit at Ten Thousand Villages (TTV). Can you believe I got the last spot? For those of you who don’t know or haven’t heard about TTV, let me tell you a little bit about them and VSA Texas’ relationship with them. I have been a volunteer with TTV for 11 years since they first had their store on South Congress next to the Continental Club. Through growing pains, parking and rent doubling, TTV relocated to Burnet Road and has a whole new neighborhood and clientele that have been gracious and have started to become regulars at the new store. TTV is a fair trade, non-profit retail store that provides a marketplace for artisans from over 38 developing countries. TTV has spent more than 60 years cultivating trading relationships in which artisans receive a fair price for their work, and consumers have access to distinctive handcrafted items.

Every year, VSA Texas is offered a benefit night during the holidays, which enables us to receive 10-15% of all items purchased in the store between 5:00-10:00 pm on a specific night in December. Everybody gets to shop for all their holiday goodies, have some refreshments, and enjoy a little entertainment. It’s an evening of good fellowship, and also in turn, supporting a fellow non-profit store. One of the things that our organizations have in common is that some of the items are made by people who are deaf or who have cognitive disabilities. We are fortunate that TTV shares our values of supporting the creative process in an all-inclusive environment.

A couple poses with handmade
candle holders from Silence

TTV has purchased products from Silence since 1983. Silence is a self-help project for artisans in India who are deaf or have physical disabilities. In a country where unemployment is high, people with disabilities rarely find work. The situation is even more difficult for women with disabilities. Silence works to help their artisans become self-sufficient and earn their living, training team members in different skills.

An artisan from Uganda Crafts
holds a spring reeds basket

Another group is Uganda Crafts, an organization managed by the disadvantaged to help the disadvantaged. Many of their artisans also have physical disabilities. They create artful baskets using their traditional method of weaving.

An artisan from Rehab Craft Cambodia
poses with a handmade purse

A third group supported by TTV is Rehab Craft Cambodia (RCC), which recognizes the obstacles these Cambodian artisans with disabilities face and gives them skills to create successful and meaningful businesses. Since people with disabilities have historically had few opportunities for training or employment, RCC does not hire people on the basis of their education or job experience. Instead, the organization is dedicated to providing training and opportunities for advancement to people within the company.

All these items and many more can be found during the Christmas Holiday Benefit for VSA Texas on December 14th, 2015, from 5:00-10:00 pm. It’s a wonderful tradition that we continue to share each year with Ten Thousand Villages. We support their artisans with disabilities, and they financially support our artisans who need our support and services. They are located at 4803 Burnet Road in Austin and can be contacted through email at austin@tenthousandvillages.com.
‘Tis the Season!