Fair Trade Month Film Festival

October is Fair Trade month and to help raise awareness MPTC and 3 other area colleges have teamed up to present a month of film screenings.

• UW-Oshkosh kick starts the month on Oct. 2 with the “Dark Side of Chocolate” from 6 to 9 pm in the Sage 1214.
• UW-FDL will show “Unravel” on Oct. 3 at 12:30 pm followed by a Wellness Tea Tasting in room UC-114.
• Marian University will show “Connected by Coffee” on Oct. 5 from 7 to 9:30 pm in the Stayer Center Auditorium.
• UW-Oshkosh presents “True Cost” on Oct. 10 from 6 to 9 pm in the Sage 1214
• Marian will show “True Cost” film on Oct. 16 from 7 to 9:30 pm in the Stayer Center.
• UW-FDL will screen “Connected by Coffee” on Oct. 19 at 12:30 pm in UC-114
• UW-Oshkosh will show “Connected by Coffee” on Oct. 24 from 6 to 9 pm in the Sage 4232
• UW Oshkosh will show “Immokalee, USA” on Oct. 19 from 2:30 to 4:30 pm in Sage 4232.
• MPTC will wrap up the film festival on Oct. 25 with four short films hosted by Brenda Schaefer’s sociology students beginning at Noon until 2 pm in A109.

All film fest participants are encouraged to bring a school supply donation of pencils, pens, notebooks or folders to support kids from the Get Paper International artisan group in Nepal.  Over 1000 kids are helped to go to school through this wonderful Fair Trade group. The schools and offices/factory were all hit hard by earthquakes and many families are still trying to recover from having their homes damaged or destroyed.

“We encourage the community to join us at any of these free film showings. These films are brought to you by donations from Fond du Lac Fair Trade Towns, Soroptimist International of Fond du Lac, and Just Fare Market in hopes to improve the awareness of Fair Trade goods, principles, and practices,” states Carol Smith, founder of this film festival and Just Fare Market.

The FDL Fair Trade Town Education Taskforce is comprised of community members driven to bring greater awareness of how Fair Trade works, and its impact on communities around the world. Those interested in more information may contact Katie Gindt at kgindt@morainepark.edu.  Meetings are held monthly at MPTC.  MPTC is a Fair Trade College!