About UWG

Unique World Gifts is located in the Viewmont business district of Hickory, North Carolina (click here for directions).  It was established in 1992 by the Hickory Mennonite Church, local citizens, and in partnership with Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit, fair-trade organization run by Mennonites.  As a 501(c)3 non-profit enterprise, UWG is dependent on approximately 46 volunteers who assist in the operation of the store in a variety ways.  Ten Thousand Villages is a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) that began as a $1.4 million response program to help provide food, water, and other resources to tsunami victims in Indonesia which has the fourth largest population in the world.  It provides a system for distribution of products and the training for the production techniques and marketing for approximately 60,000 artisans and farmers throughout impoverished Third World countries. The organization is a member of the World Fair Trade Organization, Fair Trade Federation, Divine Chocolate, Equal Xchange, Level Ground, Serrv and partners with Putumayo World Music.

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