17th Annual Southern Illinois Alternative Gift Fair
Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/04/2022
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location
Carbondale Civic Center
Categories
Holiday music, gifts, and community connections all combine to help create a simpler, more meaningful, and sustainable holiday season. The 17th Annual Southern Illinois Alternative Gift Fair lets you choose holiday gifts with a deeper meaning for your loved ones, while enjoying the day with your neighbors, helping the environment and wildlife, providing meals and shelter for people in need.
The event is sponsored by the social action committee of the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship.
Organizations in your community and around the world will be represented, selling beautiful handmade crafts, fair trade coffee and chocolate, and original art. Need a gift for that person who’s got everything but storage space? Give it to someone in need, and let your loved one know about it with a special card or certificate. It will be their favorite gift this season! Organizations participating in this year’s gift fair are: Y’all Rock Carbondale, Church Women United, Boys and Girls Club of SI, San Foundation for Laotian Children, Carbondale United, Carbondale Area Interfaith Refugee Support, Habitat for Humanity of Union and Jackson Counties, Friends of Carbondale Dog Parks, Southern Illinois Collaborative Kitchen, Humane Society of Southern Illinois, Shawnee Group Sierra Club, Gaia House Interfaith Center, Free Again Wildlife Refuge, Good Samaritan Ministries, Survivor Empowerment Center, Friends of Giant City State Park, Diaper Bank of Southern Illinois, Southern Illinois Peace Coalition, Rainbow Café, Green Earth, Carbondale Warming Center, A Gift of Love Charity, Girl Scouts of SI-Jackson County, SI AIDS Coalition, Keep Carbondale Beautiful, Carbondale Laundry Project, Golden Rainbows of Illinois South, CUF Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolate Sales,
A donation of one non-perishable food item is requested (but not required) for admission. All collected donations will benefit Southern Illinois food assistance programs. The collection of canned goods is called Margie’s Basket, in memory of long time community volunteer and Alternative Gift Fair organizer, Margie Parker. The popular silent auction component of the Fair returns again this year.
The Southern Illinois Alternative Gift Fair will be taking place on Sunday, Dec. 4 from 2-5 pm at the Carbondale Civic Center, 200 S. Illinois Ave, Carbondale. Masks are recommended and no food or drinks will be served during the Fair. For more information, visit the Southern Illinois Alternative Gift Fair’s Facebook page. (Note: Participation by additional non-profits is closed for this year, due to space limitations).