As many have heard, after serving the Champaign-Urbana community for 38 years SelfHelp Village Crafts, Inc. (dba Ten Thousand Villages Champaign) is expanding to Peoria Heights! After learning that Global Village would be closing after operating in downtown Peoria Heights for 20+ years, we felt called to action. Our mission is to bring artisan products and stories to communities through long-term fair trade partnerships. We want our communities to have access to these fair trade products and stories and feel strongly about continuing efforts to bring these to Peoria Heights.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the sales of products help us pay our operating expenses (which we do our best to keep minimal) and help us place consistent orders with our artisan partners. Volunteers have been at the heart of our operations since we opened in 1985. They are our most passionate supporters, who love spending time surrounded by beautiful products and sharing our fair trade stories with customers. We couldn’t do what we do without volunteers and are hoping you will consider joining us in Peoria Heights!

Our store hours in Peoria Heights will be Tuesday-Saturday 11-5 (and 12-4 on Sundays in December). Volunteers will be asked to work two 3-hour shifts per month with two time options (11-2 or 2-5 and 1-4 on Sundays). We welcome you to volunteer more than twice a month if you are able, but it will not be required! Shifts will be self-scheduled through a SignUp Genius calendar and can be regular or spontaneous each month, depending on your schedule and preferences. We will have a paid staff person in the shop as well, so no one will have to work alone. As we get established, we hope to expand both our hours and our volunteer opportunities to offsite sales, educational events and speaking engagements.

Our soft opening is planned for October 19, 2023. We are looking for volunteers willing to be trained and ready to start shifts by late October. If you are ready to jump in, you can email me your availability for October 23-31 and we can set up a time for training!

Please reach out to me with any questions about volunteering or the shop and feel free to forward this email to any friends and family members you think might be interested! We are grateful for your consideration of this opportunity and look forward to seeing each of you (in any capacity) at our new store soon!