11/15/2025
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ARTS & LIFE: ‘Shopping once and giving twice’: 38th annual Alternative Gifts Fair raises thousands for organizations
In the gym of Denton’s First United Methodist Church, dozens of people shopped from over 35 businesses and nonprofit organizations selling items like jewelry, clothing, ceramics and food Nov. 7-9.
All of these vendors were part of the Alternative Gifts Fair, an annual event organized by FUMC that raises money for each organization's mission. Karen Anderson-Lain, a university communications studies principal lecturer, has been a member of the Alternative Gifts Fair Committee for nine years. Anderson-Lain said she fell in love with the fair's purpose and how it supports so many impactful organizations.
“They get to tell their story, we get to support the work they do and it’s a way our church can give back our time and help those organizations,” Anderson-Lain said. “We can’t write an $80,000 check, but we raised over $80,000 last year.”
📝: Sophia Carbajal
📸: Dilip Devanda
Read more: https://buff.ly/slDPgQf
