The 
Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church (MUUC) will host an Alternative Holiday Fair on Saturday December 2nd from 10:00am – 2:00pm at 70 West Emerson Street, in Melrose.
The Fair will feature over 17 different vendors selling thoughtful andunique gifts that support sustainable living, social justice, and charitable causes. Many of the gifts are hand-made or specialty items for the hard-to-buy-for person onyour list. In addition to all the great shopping, there will be kid-friendly shortmovies shown and a lunch cafe on our lower level.
The Alternative Holiday Fair is held by the MUUC in conjunction with the Melrose Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Home for the Holiday’s festival and will be a featured trolley stop.
The fair provides an alternative to the typical commercial holiday gift buying options like
big box stores, shopping malls, and online shopping. Buying from the vendors at the Alternative Holiday Fair supports a diverse array of social and economic justice efforts. Shoppers can support fair trade coffees, teas, and chocolates by shopping with Equal Exchange at the Fair. Support economic sustainability for women and families with Project Have Hope and Mayan Hands selling beautiful, handmade, home goods and craft items made by women led cooperatives in Uganda and Guatemala. Shoppers can also support a new collective business model for a local new-comer women’s group to gain economic stability with guidance from the New American Association of Massachusetts (NAAM) located in Lynn, MA. NAAM will be selling handmade items made by the Collective with all proceeds going back to the Collective and to provide financial support for the women who make the crafts.
MUUC is thrilled to partner all of the following vendors to support socially conscious holiday shopping in Melrose:
Trove Green Provisions www.trovegreenprovisions.com
Project Have Hope https://projecthavehope.org/
Book Wonder BeBookWonder.com
Really Just Shae https://reallyjustshae.com
Mayan Hands https://www.mayanhands.org/
HOPe Unlimited https://www.houseofpossibilities.org/hopeunlimited
Woven Stories https://www.thewovenstories.com/
Natural Chemist Candles www.naturalchemistco.com
The New American Association of Massachusetts https://naamass.org/
Scarlett Timm handmade knitted items (to benefit) 96elephants.org
Cookie sale (to benefit) NEMTforest.org
Equal Exchange https://shop.equalexchange.coop/
Bake Sale (to benefit) https://www.breadoflifemalden.org/
MUUC Quilters https://www.melroseuu.org/community/muuc-quilting-group/
White Elephant Table (to benefit) https://www.immigrantsupportalliance.org/
MUUC Green Sanctuary Committee https://www.melroseuu.org/community/green-
sanctuary-committee/
