Kirkland Interfaith Network Alternative Gift Fair Nov. 14-15

Published 7:22 am Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The Kirkland Interfaith Network (KIN) invites residents to its annual Alternative Gift Fair from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 14 and from noon to 2 p.m. on Nov. 15. The event will be held at a new place this year, Holy Family Catholic Church, located at 7045 120th Ave NE in Kirkland.

The KIN Alternative Gift Fair is a holiday fair where each gift bought provides a better life for someone who needs it – here or abroad. It’s a fair where participants can do some holiday shopping and feel good about doing it, according to organizers.

At the fair, participants will find tables selling “alternative” gifts. An alternative gift is a donation made to an organization in honor of a person to whom participants might normally give a material gift. An alternative gift might be a flock of chicks for a family in Bolivia, a window for a unit of affordable housing or a blanket to warm a refugee in a camp.

For each item purchased, participants receive a gift card with an insert describing the gift, which participants can give to the person they are honoring.

At the KIN Fair find a variety of local, national and international organizations working to provide short term relief for those in need and long term development assistance to address the underlying causes of hunger and poverty.

“Because of the wide variety of alternative gifts at the KIN Fair, you can carefully select the one that’s just right for each person on your list, as you would with a material gift,” organizers state in a release. “In addition, at the KIN Alternative Gift Fair, you will also find a large selection of fair-trade items imported from the developing world. And you will know that all the items you purchase benefit someone who needs a helping hand.”