If you have holiday shopping left to do and a penchant for supporting local businesses, and you recognize the importance of supporting educational opportunities for girls worldwide, consider checking out the fundraising shopping event Shop. Sip. Support. at Global Villages on Grant Street.
On Friday, December 11, Global Villages owner Louise Sano (who was recently featured in the NPR story “Resettled Refugees Help To ‘Bring Buffalo Back’”) is hosting the event to benefit Girls Education Collaborative (GEC). Guests who stop in between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. will be invited to enjoy complimentary wine and light snacks while they peruse the store’s fabulous selection of jewelry, housewares, decorative items, and wearables made by mostly female artisans from Africa and around the world. Twenty percent of sales made over the course of the day will go directly to GEC.
For those unfamiliar with GEC, it is a Buffalo-based nonprofit organization that forges on-the-ground partnerships in support of education-focused, community-driven initiatives in developing countries to improve opportunities for girls. GEC is currently working with the Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa, a group of visionary Tanzanian nuns, to build a school for girls in rural Kitenga, Tanzania—an impoverished village where many girls are at risk of female genital cutting, arranged marriages, and domestic violence. Once completed (enrollment is slated to begin in May, with a start date of January 2017), the school will provide opportunities for scientific and literary exploration, health and life skills education, workforce training, leadership development, and other elements that are vital to supporting the development of each girl’s potential, broadening her horizons, and fueling her autonomy.
Shop. Sip. Support. | Global Villages | 216 Grant St., Buffalo, NY 14213 | 12/11/15 | 4pm-7pm