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**Purchasing With A Purpose Just in time for holidays** What if buying beautiful art, crafts and jewelry at great prices was a way to make a positive impact in the world? That’s the aim of a burgeoning movement called “fair trade,” and a Miramar-area church is about to become the newest entry in San Diego’s small but growing fair-trade market. The Unity Center, 8999 Activity Road, will open its Partners Fair Trade Boutique to the public on Sunday, November 10th. The store will offer a wide assortment of impressive handmade goods from Asia, Latin America and other far-flung regions of the globe. Bracelets made by Himalayan children rescued from slavery. Intricate bamboo-coconut bowls from Bali. Incredible self-portraits painted by near-extinct elephants in Thailand. “We’re very excited about this,” said the Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell, founder and spiritual leader of The Unity Center. “We’re opening this store to make a very real difference in the lives of impoverished women around the world.” The fair-trade boutique is an outgrowth of the interfaith church’s progressive values, which include “transforming the world with love.” Sale proceeds will go toward funding the church’s micro-finance projects and its annual “Travel With a Purpose” program in which volunteers assist with various building projects funded by the church in remote villages in Central and South America. Partners Fair Trade Boutique, located in a redesigned space that used to be the church’s second-floor bookstore, will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays and Mondays through Thursdays from 9 to 5. Craig-Purcell is confident shoppers not only will be impressed by the cost and quality of the merchandise – prices range from $10 to $150 – but also will feel good about their purchases. “People are looking for greater meaning in their lives and they want to make a positive difference in the world,” she said. “These unique, handmade fair trade gifts provide a perfect opportunity to do just that. Every item has a unique story and an artisan whose life is being changed for the better. Ordinary shopping just can’t do all that!” “It’s a way to leverage good, to multiply good.” Allen said San Diego’s fledgling fair-trade market is gaining momentum, and she expects the Unity boutique will help. “Fair trade is growing, it’s very much growing,” she said. “A lot of people are becoming more and more aware of it. “If they want a good example they could go to The Unity Center to see and learn what it’s all about.” --Chet Barfield ###— September 23, 2013 11:01 a.m.