The True Cost of Giving

Gifts have become such an essential part of the holiday season that in the midst of the shopping frenzy, few people stop to think about the implications of buying local versus buying from a global corporation. But Evan Weissman, founder of the "civic health club" Warm Cookies of the Revolution,...

By Nathalia Vélez

December 12, 2013

Audio By Carbonatix

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Gifts have become such an essential part of the holiday season that in the midst of the shopping frenzy, few people stop to think about the implications of buying local versus buying from a global corporation. But Evan Weissman, founder of the "civic health club" Warm Cookies of the Revolution, wants to make you stop and think about that — and then shop at Gifted Handmade Market. More than forty local vendors will be selling handmade goods there, and each of them will share the true cost of making their products and the true benefit of buying them.

“They might say, ‘My supplies actually cost this much money,’ but it could be, ‘My costs were that it took this much time,’ or ‘I missed my daughter’s soccer game,’” Weissman explains. “There’s something about humanizing a commercial exchange that I think, hopefully, helps with the initial question as to why you would pay a little more to support someone local.”

The market will run from 5 to 9 p.m. today at the McNichols Building, 144 West Colfax Avenue. At 6:30 p.m., Weissman and Warm Cookies will lead a discussion on the true cost of gifts. Admission is free; cookies and hot cocoa will be provided. For more information, visit warmcookiesoftherevolution.org.
Thu., Dec. 12, 5-9 p.m., 2013

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