By Macy Klocko, guest blogger
Edna Byler was a woman volunteering in her community in Akron, Pennsylvania. She traveled to Puerto Rico with her husband in 1946 and met women in La Plata Valley who were facing poverty and struggling to provide for their families. Instead of turning the other way, Byler was deeply impacted by this encounter and decided to do something about it. The women in La Plata Valley made unique textiles that Byler bought to bring back to sell in America. She began to sell fair trade items from the trunk of her Chevy II and sharing the stories of these artisans to provide each of them a brighter future.
From selling fair trade items from a trunk of a Chevy II in the 1950s, to now having 70 stores across the United States, Ten Thousand Villages has expanded itself to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries. Our mission is to provide income to artisans by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term, fair trading relationships in hopes that one day all artisans will earn a fair wage and be treated with dignity and respect. Ten Thousand Villages promotes sustainability, safe working conditions, gender equality and more to bring justice to the lives of every individual facing poverty, climate change and economic crisis.
From selling fair trade items from a trunk of a Chevy II in the 1950s, to now having 70 stores across the United States, Ten Thousand Villages has expanded itself to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries. Our mission is to provide income to artisans by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term, fair trading relationships in hopes that one day all artisans will earn a fair wage and be treated with dignity and respect. Ten Thousand Villages promotes sustainability, safe working conditions, gender equality and more to bring justice to the lives of every individual facing poverty, climate change and economic crisis.
This past September, State College joined the Ten Thousand Villages community by opening a local store to further continue the organization’s mission and spread awareness. A group of motivated and passionate individuals who would eventually form the Board of Directors of the local non-profit started to raise resources and momentum through temporary sales at the local Mennonite church. With the support of the community, it was suggested to turn temporary sales events into a permanent Ten Thousand Villages store. Representatives of Ten Thousand Villages US were invited to Centre County to help bring this idea to life. By February 2017, the first board of directors, Joel Weidner, Jean Landis, and Kristine Charles began fundraising and building support to open a store.
With the efforts of the board members and overwhelming support from the community, $125,000 was raised, which exceeded the original goal of $100,000. The mission fully came to life on July 1, 2018 when the lease was signed for space in the Talbots Plaza at 1341 S. Atherton St. in State College. Ten Thousand Villages State College opened the doors of our Village in September to invite everyone to discover the world of fair trade items. The hard work and efforts were celebrated by a ribbon cutting ceremony provided by The Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County (CBICC).
We have expanded our Village with Kieran T. Holland as our full-time manager and Jenn Miller as our part-time assistant manager, along with over 60 volunteers. We hope to continue to grow and spread awareness of the artisans and to provide opportunities and brighter futures through our local nonprofit. Without the overwhelming support of this community, Ten Thousand Villages State College wouldn’t be possible. It is because of you we are able to live out our mission that Edna Byler started back in 1946 and make an impact on the lives of artisans whose voices need to be heard. Truly, together we thrive.
