Go For the Gold

Nothing brings together the country quite like the Olympics. In a surge of national and international pride, sports fans and even those without much interest in sports the rest of the time gather to be awed and amazed by some of the world's best examples of athletic prowess and physical perfection.

But the Olympics, held in London this year, are about more than that. They are about a particular spirit, about bringing together people from nearly every country in the world to celebrate the human spirit and potential. It's about vastly different cultures coming together in the singular pursuit of an ideal.

So what does that have to do with the handmade products at Shopping for a Change®? We believe that our mission isn't so different. It may not involve feats of athletic skill, but it's still about the human spirit. It's about bringing together the local artisans and craftsmen who are producing unique and beautiful jewelry and clothing, accessories and home goods, and the shoppers who might otherwise never see these culturally infused fair trade gifts. Our site supports growth and opportunity for the artists and workers who create each handcrafted piece, and we hope those handmade products bring a smile to the face of every shopper. Support craftsmen in countries all over the world including Columbia, Ecuador, Vietnam, and Rwanda.

So go for the gold in style this year by supporting our fair trade artisans and collectives. Start with a handmade Accented Tagua Necklace in a deep gold, adding a spark of olympic-inspired colored and helping to benefit socially conscious fashion collectives like the Andean Collection. The Andean Collection’s striking jewelry designs are created from natural fair trade materials, indigenous to some of lower elevations and rainforests of South America. Handcrafted by Ecuadorian artisans following fair trade principles, this jewelry provides a sustainable economic alternative to the selling of their land, thereby protecting their way of life and the world’s magnificent forests. No trees are harmed in the harvesting of any materials used in this handmade fair trade jewelry.


Shopping for a Change® (SFAC) empowering others, transforming lives® is a web-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization where artisans (predominantly women) from developing countries, sell their handmade creations enabling them to earn a sustainable income and lift themselves from poverty. The net proceeds subsidize community improvement projects abroad as well as help fund select U.S.-based non-profit organizations of the web shopper’s choosing from SFAC’s partner list.