CAMARILLO : Christmas Market Offers Gift Alternatives for Global Aid
Few Christmas wish lists include a duckling for an Indonesian village, a pair of water buffalo for Indian farmers, or antibiotics for the sick of Albania.
But at the Alternative Gift Market in Camarillo, those are a few of the items that can be purchased as donations in the name of a friend or family member.
Donors will receive a card acknowledging that an alternative gift was made in their honor, said the event’s organizer, Karen Little.
The market will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday at the United Methodist Church on Anacapa Drive.
In addition to the alternative gifts, will be sold, such as jewelry from the Philippines and Mexico, woodcarvings from Kenya and holiday cards made of straw from Bangladesh. Another table will take donations for Habitat for Humanity, a project to build housing for the poor.
Shoppers can also make a donation to the Camarillo Hospice or to Operation Warm-up, which supplies blankets, sleeping bags, socks and gloves to the needy in Ventura County.
“It’s a way for the whole family to experience the real joy of Christmas, which is helping someone in our global village,” Little said.
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