Authentic fair trade for small producers around the world. The Building Stones Mission Shop at Stone Presbyterian Church in Clinton, NY sells Fair Trade products from both the United States and around the world. Fair Trade helps producers get paid a fair wage and work in healthy conditions, providing dignity and hope for farmers and artisans who produce the items we consume and enjoy.
As part of its mission Stone Church started selling fair trade goods to its congregation a number of years ago. It now is an established public shop located in the church building staffed by volunteers with $28,000 in annual revenue. The shop sells products from Bead for Life (recycled paper beads from Uganda); SERRV International (items from artisans and farmers around the world); Equal Exchange (coffees, teas and chocolates); Ten Thousand Villages items; Women’s Bean Project (soup mixes, cookie mixes, dip mixes); Maggie’s Organics (clothing made with organically grown cotton), items from Mayan Hands (Guatemala) and Partners for Just Trade (Guatemala, Peru and Haiti). The profits from the shop support a variety of causes and missions.
The shop sponsored the pastor of Stone Church to participate in a January 2014 trip to Nicaragua under the auspices of the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Equal Exchange. He has given presentations on the trip to churches and schools to share those first-hand experiences and the importance of Fair Trade.
By promoting Fair Trade in our church and community we are supporting the health and welfare of people organically by providing a means for them to be contributors to the world economy.
Our shop is open every Sunday after church, every Thursday from 10AM to 6:30PM inside the church, every second Saturday from 10AM to 4PM and at the Farmer’s Market on the Village Green every Thursday during the summer months from 10AM to 4PM. We are now located in the basement of our church with an entrance on Williams Street. Our shop also has a wheelchair ramp and entrance, which is located on the left side of the church, when facing the front. We are now accepting credit cards.