What is Alternative Gift Giving?
What if we could transform the way we give gifts into something more sustainable, meaningful, and impactful?
Our annual alternative gift fair gives ethically minded and socially conscious shoppers a central location to "put their money where their heart is" in terms of aligning their desire to live with intention throughout the year with their spending habits around the holidays. Oftentimes, individuals want to make more conscientious choices in recognizing the incredible potential they wield in galvanizing their purchasing purchase to cast a vote for the kind of world in which they want to live.

November 30, 2025
Discover the Gift of Giving Alternatively!
✓ 11 AM - 3 PM
✓ Free Admission
✓ Bring Your Friends & Family
When did we start
How do we promote altruistic giving in our holiday shopping?
Lancaster has been consecutively hosting an alternative gift fair since 2008! The Gifts that Give Hope Gift Fair not only promotes altruistic giving through the purchase of alternative gifts, it is also a community event! Holiday shoppers can purchase fair trade, social enterprise, environmentally friendly, business for good, and locally & ethically sourced gifts, as well as delicious tastes from around the world from some of Lancaster's tastiest food vendors.
How To Prepare
01. Identify Your Recipient
02. Choose a Cause
03. Gift with Ease
Make a checklist of loved ones and important recipients that you would like to give a gift that makes a difference.
We've made one ready for you – download it below.
Select a cause or impactful gift that aligns with your recipient's passions and values at our in-person holiday fair or online year round.
Meet our nonprofits that will be joining us this year below!
Receive a card and detailed insert to give your loved one, assuring your gift's impactful contribution to them and the cause.







Savor More Than Flavor
Throughout the day, enjoy delicious offerings from some of Lancaster’s favorite food trucks and market vendors. A full list of this year’s featured food partners will be shared soon — come hungry!
Meet Our 2025 Marketplace Vendors
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Bench Mark Apparel
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Binding Love Scarves
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Centered Soul Creations
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Chestnut Ridge Honey & Beeswax
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Crafted & Chosen Jewelry
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Friendship Heart Gallery & Studio
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Food Is Love
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Hope Inspire Love
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Hope Noted
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Hope Served
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HappySilence
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Mitzvah Moms
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MollyauContraire
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My Peruvian Treasures
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Olive Tree Embroidery
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Peace Kids to the Rescue
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RecycloCraftz
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Soaps by Survivors
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Trade Faire
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Wild Child Fibers
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Work Of Worth International
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Women's Global Village

We use screen printing as a platform for learning, growth, and community. By teaching industry skills and building strong networks, we empower students and grow together as a social enterprise committed to shared success.
It is a ministry with a heart to bring awareness about child trafficking, to give everyone young and old a practical opportunity to join in the battle against this injustice. Binding Love also carries a business side that provides finances to two girls homes in Thailand. We are 100% volunteered based and give 50% of all funds from each scarf sold.

Centered Soul Creations exists to honor the deep connection between art, nature, spirit, and the healing power of embodied living.
Rooted in meditation and soul-centered presence, each piece is handcrafted with heart as an offering of loving intention and care. Through this healing work, I hope to invite others to reconnect with their inner beauty and to notice the sacred woven into everyday life.

While we don’t employ people directly, we care very much about setting up our business in a way that supports the efforts of companies around the world that are forging a path towards more equitable, fair and safe working conditions for the farmers, artisans and makers whom they employ. We are extremely conscious about what we purchase both as raw ingredients and as finished products for our themed gift boxes. We actively and enthusiastically seek out companies that are fair trade, social enterprise, business for good, environmentally friendly and cognizant about their working conditions for employees because we believe God created everyone with inherent gifts and everyone deserves to work in an environment where they are treated with respect, appreciation and dignity. While we are a small business, we believe that we each have a role to play in using our purchasing power to cast a vote for the kind of world we want to live in: one that is free of injustice.

Uniquely Crafted Jewelry, Chosen Just for You
Friendship Heart Gallery & Studio, an extension of Friendship Community, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit creative arts studio for adult artists, 18 years of age and older, with Intellectual Disability and Autism. We celebrate personalities and talents through free expression and collaboration. Since 2007, we have been encouraging the heart artists to share their innermost thoughts, feelings, and dreams with the world through their creativity. Each day we honor our vision statement of Expressing Capabilities

Food is Love Lancaster exists to celebrate our shared love of food and its related implied universal love language.
The main goal is to promote the local Lancaster food scene. Lancaster County's food is more than just sustenance – it's a reflection of the values and traditions that have shaped this community. So, join us in celebrating the flavors, the history, and the people who make Lancaster County's food scene a true treasure.

OUR MISSION: We exist to eradicate human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Together, we are empowering survivors to flourish & thrive!

Hope Noted is a Lancaster, PA based mental health and grief support organization, committed to creating safe and compassionate spaces, and spreading authentic messages of hope and healing through our empathy cards and across all platforms.

To come alongside individuals with disabilities and their local communities as they co-create revolutionary and sustainable opportunities for authentic participation in all aspects of life.
I am an artist and maker, not an organization, but my personal mission statement is to show love and compassion to others and to take as best possible care of our planet as possible.

In this program, the founders and Mitzvah Kid caregivers work with the children to build their individual civic engagement skills. Through words, actions, discussions and projects, the children learn how to improve their leadership, communication, marketing, finance, community awareness, and diversity, equality, and inclusion skill sets.

Trash is put to better use in art.

Ethical, Sustainable and Socially Conscious Fashion. Handcrafted by Global Artisans with ancient techniques and native materials.
We stand with Palestinian women and families living under occupation by providing fair wages through the sale of handmade goods rooted in the centuries-old tradition of tatreez. Grounded in the spirit of sumud—steadfastness in the face of adversity—we foster personal, tangible connections between global communities. Each piece preserves cultural heritage and supports the work of justice and dignity.

To empower children to use their creativity and compassion to support the disadvantaged and marginalized in their communities.

To make an Educational, Economic and Eternal difference in the lives of Zambia's needy

Soaps by Survivors exists to employ and empower survivors of sexual exploitation.

At Trade Faire, our mission is to foster a global community built on ethical commerce, sustainability, and social responsibility. With every purchase, our customers join us in making a positive impact, creating a fairer & more sustainable world for all.
Wild Child Fibers is a multi-disciplinary art experiment created and solely run by Christa. Fiber art is the primary exploration, but collage, painting, and assemblage are also part of the process. Focusing on the use of donated, discarded, and found materials, Christa creates apparel, accessories, home goods, and art as a way to represent the beauty in the disregarded. For Christa, art is a form of therapy, distraction, and self-actualization.
Work of Worth exists to empower ethically-motivated, purpose driven, indigenous entrepenuers by connecting their businesses to the western market.
Empowering immigrant women to offer their handmade crafts, by aiming to address women’s poverty, in creating space to share their skill-sets promoting networks toward financial prosperity impacting their families and improving our communities.
Meet our 2025 Nonprofit Partners
Lancaster County Feed My Starving Children MobilePack
Lancaster County Food Hub
Least of These Ministries
Live Like Libby
Lone Oak Animal-Assisted Therapeutic & Educational Services Inc.
Meals on Wheels of Lancaster
Mental Health America of Lancaster County
Music For Everyone
Off The Streets
OutreachPARAGUAY
PA Vent Camp
Reach Out and Read Lancaster County
Get Involved!
Nonprofit Partners
Are you part of a nonprofit doing impactful work? Join our marketplace to share your mission and receive support through charitable gift giving.
Apply to Be a Nonprofit PartnerSponsor Opportunities
Support meaningful giving and connect with a community that cares. Our sponsors help make the Gift Fair and year-round impact possible.
Explore Sponsorship OpportunitiesVolunteer
Help us bring the Gift Fair to life! From setup to social media, there are so many ways to lend a hand and make a difference.
Sign Up to VolunteerVendor
Do you offer fair trade, handmade, or sustainable products? We welcome vendors whose values align with ours for a festive, ethical shopping experience.
Apply to Be a Vendor




Celebrating Our Partners!
It takes a community to create something meaningful. We’re proud to recognize the businesses that stand with us in promoting charitable giving and supporting vital nonprofit work—locally and globally.








