My Nonprofit Reviews
Shane Hill S.
Review for Catholic Relief Services, Baltimore, MD, USA
I was blessed to be introduced to the great work done by Catholic Relief Services in 2010 by my boss and pastor at the time, Father Wayne LeBleu. He was very involved as Director of CRS in our Diocese of Lake Charles, and asked if I would consider introducing our parish to what was then called Fair Trade "Work of Human Hands" consignment sales. Every advent since 2010 we have held this Fair Trade/Ethical Trade sale at Christ the King Catholic Church and we draw people from all over our diocese to our little church by the airport. This type of sale was made possible by cooperation between CRS and SERRV, another non-profit organization that makes the products available to people to purchase outright or enables organizations to host a sale. I was blessed to be chosen to go through the Fair Trade Ambassador training in Seattle in the Spring of 2013 and came back ready to spread the word throughout our Diocese about the poorest of our brothers and sisters around the world and their efforts to earn a just and fair wage for their goods and crafts. I spoke about my experience on our local catholic show at the time, Glad Tidings; was allowed to have sales at various events and parishes in the Dioceses of Lake Charles as well as in the Diocese of Lafayette. I was saddened when I spoke with Stephanie Bosse recently and learned that this Christmas (2019) would be the last sale I would host in my parish, but happy at the same time. Through the hard work of so many wonderful ambassadors trained and supported by CRS and the work of CRS itself as well as SERRV; the need for promotion of fair trade items is waning because the word is out, people are listening and it is spreading to many locations and stores. You can purchase these same Ethical/Fair trade items at so many places now. This was the goal all along. I am looking forward now to exploring other opportunities that CRS will offer in the future to help our brothers and sisters around the world, thus continuing my opportunity to mission from my own little parish in Lake Charles, LA.
