This isn’t the first year that the Center for Justice and Reconciliation Center (CJR) at Point Loma Nazarene University has held Roots of Giving, but this will be the first time both first-year and second-year students will be experiencing it in person. The CJR will be holding Roots of Giving on Caf lane on Dec. 3 from 6p.m.-10 p.m.
“Roots of Giving is an ethical gift market that the CJR puts on annually in December to encourage ethical giving around the holiday season,” said Kyla Kinzle, a junior political science major.
Roots of Giving was moved fully online last year due to COVID-19. The CJR is planning on having this year’s market to be hybrid, available in person as well as online.
Kinzle is the co-director of Roots of Giving, along with Katie Quinn and Katrina Cloyes, junior student initiative coordinators.
Kinzle said that the two main goals behind Roots of Giving are, “to educate our community and to empower our consumers to choose ethical giving.”
Roots of Giving was originally started to “create awareness around labor trafficking, specifically abroad,” Cloyes said.
Cloyes said child labor trafficking occurs around the holidays and people either, “don’t know about it or they brush it off.”
Quinn said that PLNU students should expect only ethical brands present at the market. These vendors are all fair trade (a global certification), meaning that not only are the workers being treated well but every single product in the entire production line meets the standards of decent living wages.
“Which is really hard to do because of our global economy,” Cloyes said. “A lot of our vendors are local, small businesses that are giving back to either our community or another community abroad.”
Roots of Giving will be creating a promo video that can be seen during a chapel service in the weeks to come.
Students can expect a range of different prices at the market. The vendors vary a bit themselves; students should expect Abraydee as well as Art by Elaine (two artists based online) and many more vendors to be present at the market. Kinzle shares that there will also be student vendors present, including businesses surrounding things like thrifting along with specialty items like soaps.
Roots of Giving will be held two weeks prior to the departure of students, giving ample opportunity for students to utilize the market for their holiday needs. Rather than getting gifts from bigger corporations, Roots of Giving is attempting to give students other options come the holidays.
“When you think of buying gifts, the first thing that comes to mind is Amazon. You don’t really consider local vendors. You might not even know ethical ways to be a consumer during the holiday season. I think we’re really trying to create awareness around bigger holidays, so that people know the only option doesn’t have to always be Amazon.” Quinn said.
More information regarding vendors can also be found on rootsofgiving.com as well as on the CJR’s Instagram page (@plnucjr).
By: Hannah Jensen
