I received this email from a friend this morning:

If you have some gift or other shopping to do this weekend, please stop by Ten Thousand Villages of Austin, a nonprofit fair trade retail store at 1317 South Congress.

On Saturday, January 22nd, from 11am – 9pm the store is hosting a benefit for survivors of the tsunami in Southeast Asia and will donate 50% of its sales to the MCC Asia Earthquake Fund. There will also be live music.

I noticed a sign taped to the window at Jo’s, too; a portion of Jo’s proceeds will go to two different organizations, one benefitting animals and the other benefitting children. I’m sure there are other merchants in the South Congress shopping district who will be participating (if you know of any, leave a comment and I’ll add a list here).