CHESTNUT RIDGE, N.Y. (PRWEB)
October 22, 2019

If a kinder, more accepting world for diversely-abled people is on your wish list, take heart! This holiday season, you can use your purchasing power to help make that wish a reality.

Shop for artisanal gifts handmade by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who live in Camphill communities in the United States and Canada. Proceeds support the Camphill movement’s work to nurture the many talents and abilities of people with autism, Down syndrome, and other cognitive disabilities.

Top Camphill-made gifts for the 2019 holiday season include:

• For the Holiday Hostess: Pottery Platters and Wooden Cutting Boards
• The Camphill School Transition Program in Glenmoore, PA, prepares 18- to 21-year-olds with developmental differences for adulthood, while empowering them to learn vocational skills like pottery making and woodworking. Students craft a variety of high-quality products—including brightly-colored pottery platters and locally-sourced wood cutting boards—sold in the Beaver Farm Crafts Etsy Shop. Students also help with shop marketing and fulfillment, enclosing a personal thank you note with each order.
• For The Light of Your Life: Toxin-Free Beeswax Candles
• Residents of Camphill Village Copake in Copake, NY, and Glenora Farm in Duncan, Canada, create gorgeous candles to make the season merry and bright. Camphill Village Copake’s candles come in holiday designs, such as fir trees, pine cones, and angels. Glenora Farm’s hand-dipped taper candles are sold in assorted sizes and colors, ideal for illuminating a festive meal or for lighting a Hanukkah menorah. Made of 100% pure beeswax, candles are free of toxins emitted by commercially-made paraffin candles and use cotton wicks, with no wires or chemical treatments.
• For the Fashionista: Woven Scarves, Market Totes, and Home Goods
• At Camphill Soltane’s Entwine Textile Design, young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities create trend-setting tote bags, cosmetic pouches, and home goods using handwoven fabrics. Goods are sold online and in Entwine’s Phoenixville, PA-based store. Diversely-abled textile artists participate in every stage of product development, including designing, weaving, and sewing. Meanwhile, Camphill Hudson’s Artisan Shop in Hudson, NY, sells knitted scarves, woven scarf wraps, and woven table runners and napkins. Community residents select colors and designs, and weave items while socializing together. The designs are vibrant, unique, and lovingly created, reflecting daily life at this bustling urban lifesharing community.
• For Someone Who Deserves to Be Pampered: Eye Pillows and Organic Herbal Teas
• Artisans at Entwine Textile Design also make soothing eye pillows filled with organic lavender and flax seed in your fabric of choice. For the ultimate relaxation-themed gift, pair an Entwine eye pillow with organic tea from Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in Kimberton, PA. Made of ingredients harvested from the village’s biodynamic garden, these loose leaf teas are free of additives or exposure to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Top sellers include Clear Thinking Herbal Tea, Sweet Dreams Herbal Tea, and the festive Candy Cane Tea.
• For the Sweet Tooth: Pure Maple Syrup and Organic Cookies
• Residents of Camphill Communities Ontario in Barrie, Canada, and Camphill Village Copake in New York make pure maple syrup the traditional way, collecting sap from maple trees and boiling it down in community sugar houses. When the sap finally becomes a thick, rich syrup, it is bottled without additives or preservatives—perfect for pancakes on Christmas morning or as a sugar substitute in holiday baking. Bakers at Camphill Village Copake also sell organic cookies, mixed and baked in small batches to ensure quality and freshness. Choose from four different varieties: chocolate chip, hazelnut, coconut chocolate, and oatmeal raisin. Supporting your favorite cause never tasted so good!
• For the Eco-Warrior: Reusable Shopping Bags and Hand Felted Dryer Balls
• Fiber artists at Plowshare Farm in Greenfield, NH, turn recyclables into treasure with upcycled reusable shopping bags sold in their Local Share store. These eye-catching totes are woven from cotton and plastic grocery bags. Camphill Village Kimberton Hills also sells colorful hand-felted wool dryer balls in sets of three. Useful for fluffing down jackets, comforters, and sleeping bags, they reduce drying time and save energy, too.
• For Kids With Amazing Imaginations: Handmade Wooden Blocks and Stuffed Animals
• For decades, woodworkers at Camphill Village Copake have crafted interlocking wooden blocks that provide hours of imagination-fueled entertainment. Made from finely sanded oak and finished in raw linseed oil, blocks come in two sets: 46 or 92 pieces. You can also give the gift of fun-filled play with an adorable “Cascadia Critter” from Cascadia Society in North Vancouver, Canada. Created from material handwoven on a Saori loom, these high-quality stuffed animals are collaboratively designed by diversely-abled weavers. Like your little love, each is one-of-a-kind.
• For Anyone Who Needs a Guardian Angel: Heirloom-Quality Wool Angels
• The signature product at Camphill Hudson’s Artisan Shop is a decorative wool angel. People of all abilities are involved in the creation of each angel, helping to tear the correct lengths of wool, cutting threads that tie it together, and selecting the star and crown that each angel wears. Angels are crafted in various skin tones and hair colors, and styled so each creation takes on a personality of its own. These heirloom-quality decorations can be displayed for the holidays or all year round.
• For The Person Who Has Everything: A Tribute Donation That Supports Camphill Communities
• Celebrate your hardest-to-shop-for loved ones with a gift that keeps on giving! Make a tribute donation to Camphill Foundation in his or her name at http://www.camphillfoundation.org/donate/. One hundred percent of your gift goes directly to Camphill communities and initiatives through Foundation grants, programs, and services.

Why Shop Camphill?

There are 15 Camphill communities in the United States and Canada, and more than 100 worldwide. These groundbreaking communities are part of the global Camphill movement, founded almost eight decades ago by Dr. Karl König and other refugees from Nazi-occupied Austria, who sought to create a new model for community life that was inclusive of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Within Camphill communities, people of all abilities live, work, and enjoy daily life together. Community members are empowered to share their talents. Weaving textiles, woodworking, pottery making, painting, baking, and other artistic and creative activities are at the heart of daily life.

“For almost 80 years, the Camphill movement has nurtured the dignity, self-worth, and abilities of each and every person through its unique lifesharing approach,” said Karen Murphy, Executive Director of Camphill Foundation. “During the holiday season, especially, it is a delight to see how much joy and personal fulfillment are sparked when people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are empowered to share their many talents with the world.”

Where Can I Buy Camphill Products?

Sales are handled by each individual Camphill community. Proceeds support the community where products are purchased, improving access to inclusive and meaningful vocational opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Find contacts and a guide to purchasing charitable gifts that support Camphill communities at http://www.camphillfoundation.org/shop-camphill/.

About Camphill Foundation

Founded in 1966 to support two fledgling Camphill communities in New York and Pennsylvania, Camphill Foundation has grown dramatically over the past five decades. Today, its mission is to grow, strengthen, and safeguard the Camphill movement at 15 Camphill communities and affiliates in the United States and Canada. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Camphill Foundation primarily accomplishes this mission by providing strategic grants and low-interest loans that help grow and sustain the Camphill movement. Visit http://www.camphillfoundation.org for more information.

Please e-mail amy@camphillfoundation.org with photo or product sample requests.

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