Pasadena, CA

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Fair Trade Pasadena turned 2 year old in January 2012, and the movement has continued to gain momentum in the historic city bordering Los Angeles. Our goal: to be the first Fair Trade Town in Southern California. The fervor for Fair Trade is not new to Pasadena. Several years ago many organizations and religious groups, along with several enthusiastic city officials, united to help open a Ten Thousand Villages on Lake Street. The stage was set to become a Fair Trade Town. The last two years Fair Trade Los Angeles received a grant from Catholic Relief Services in order to support the FT Towns movements in smaller surrounding cities. Pasadena was one of the cities granted a year-long paid intern. Since then a thriving steering committee has developed. It includes several small Fair Trade business owners, a diverse range of religious leaders, local teachers, students, and community activists. Furthermore, we have an ever-growing “Fair Trade Pasadena” Facebook following. We have held several successful events in the months of May and October. In October of 2012 we worked with Lineage Dance Company to put on a benefit dance performance that celebrated all the ways Fair Trade makes our world more fair and just. We also held a silent auction that highlighted many local and fair trade businesses in our community and on the web. We announced the winner for our second annual Teen Poster Contest and had a welcoming speech by Mayor Bogaard. Other previous events include: "A Taste of Fair Trade" a community bike ride that highlighted Fair Trade stores throughout Pasadena including a tour and samplings at Whole Foods, coffee and treats at Moka Cafe, and a rug sale event at Ten Thousand Villages; a screening of “Dark Side of Chocolate” at Fuller Seminary -- 80 people attended; Choctober – a festive chocolate tasting event at the local Ten Thousand Villages; A reading of the children’s book “Think Fair Trade First” and a lesson about Fair Trade Chocolate at the famous, locally-owned bookstore, Vroman’s; and a teen-focused campaign including the following actions: 1) encouraging local teachers and youth group leaders to teach an accessible two day lesson on Fair Trade, 2) a “Have a Fair Trade Holiday” poster contest for teens, and 3) and a Teen Ben & Jerry’s Fair Trade Ice Cream Social at the Coral Center where the winner of the poster contest were announced. Fair Trade Pasadena is working towards becoming a Fair Trade Town. We have a solid steering committee, a wide range of events, and support from city officials, many local businesses, and organizations. Our hope is to gain Fair Trade Town status by the end of this year, 201.