Fundraise with Abena

Join me in raising $1,000 to Support Economic and Environmental Justice

– Abena O. Apea

This Spring, I joined the Chicago Fair Trade Board of Directors. Each year, Chicago Fair Trade board members reach out to introduce friends and family to the work of Chicago Fair Trade and raise funds to support its activities. Together, our contributions can change the lives of many.

I come from a line of bakers, fishers, and craftspeople. My mother often shared their experiences with my sisters and me. Her stories connected us to relatives living oceans away. They also helped us learn that individuals labor to supply the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the goods we consume. They work hard, sometimes in difficult and extreme conditions, and deserve our gratitude and respect. The lessons I learned as a child launched my interest in fair labor and fair trade.

Sadly, rather than an underpinning of thanks and fairness for workers, the landscape promotes anything but. Today, over 40 million people are in modern slavery, 152 million children work as child laborers, and sweatshops are abundant ( The World Counts Global Challenges). The land, seas, are being decimated, and the air polluted, all in the quest for cheap consumables. This is not only happening in far-away countries but also here in Chicago. Organizations like Chicago Fair Trade are committed to erasing these wrongs.

My first experience with Chicago Fair Trade was as a resource to purchase fair trade goods. My support for the organization deepened as I learned the breadth of its reach. CFT impacts labor policy, advocates for workers’ rights and safe working conditions, educates youth and adults on fair trade, ethical consumerism, and environmental sustainability, and supports fair trade businesses. It is the largest fair-trade coalition in the United States, and its impact is fierce, locally, nationally, and globally.

Working for economic and environmental justice is important to me, and I hope you share my passion. Your investment in Chicago Fair Trade helps provide much-needed funds to the day-to-day work necessary to realize our vision of an economy that values the labor and dignity of all people.
I hope you will help expand our mission by donating today.

Thank you.

Anonymous

$525.00

September 17, 2021

SM

Stephen Mogge

$250.00

September 16, 2021

Anonymous

$198.04

September 15, 2021

AN

Akua N.Apea

$103.30

September 15, 2021

Anonymous

$515.24

September 14, 2021

CS

Cheryl Sublette

$103.30

Great organization! Special shout out to Abena Apea.

September 14, 2021