Take Action
What you can do
Using Sweat-Free Ts in your congregation, group or presbytery is a fun and rewarding experience! It's a great way to build fellowship, educate others and support hardworking garment producers around the world.
The basic way to participate is simply to order Sweat-Free Ts any time your group prints t-shirts—and to educate the larger church community by publicizing your commitment to a sweat-free world. Many groups take their participation steps further. We hope these suggestions and ideas will assist you in improving the lives of workers and promoting a sweatshop-free world.
Get Started
Pray for workers and their families around the world, for
decision makers in corporations and factories, for the Sweat-Free cooperative
in Nicaragua and their continued success.
Set your goal (or goals):
- To use Sweat-Free Ts every time your group prints t-shirts
- To promote Sweat-Free Ts to others within your congregation,
presbytery, campus or community
- To use Sweat-Free Ts as a basis for education about economic,
social and environmental issues
- To use Sweat-Free T sales as a fundraiser
- Create your own goals.
If appropriate, pass a resolution to use only Sweat-Free
Ts for all t-shirt purchases in your congregation, campus community, presbytery
or organization. Download a sample resolution. 
Identify people who will volunteer to help coordinate the
project and/or sales and distribution.
Place an Order for
T-shirts
If you plan to screen print the shirts, contact
your local screen printer ahead of time and arrange to have your shirts printed
in plenty of time for your event or gathering. Inform them of your group’s
decision to use Sweat-Free apparel and let them know the shirts will be delivered
to their shop. Supply the print shop with your artwork or logos.
When you sell or distribute the shirts, make educational
resources available so others can learn about Sweat-Free Ts and the difference
their shirt purchase makes for workers and their families. Consider providing
one copy of the Sweat-Free
educational flyer (PDS # 7436003324) to each person receiving a t-shirt. Learn more or call the PC(USA) at (888) 728-7228 x5626 for
materials. (You may want to build interest and anticipation by educating people
and announcing Sweat-Free Ts before you begin taking orders or selling.)
When selling the shirts, you may choose to include a surcharge
on each shirt. Use your discretion in determining the amount. The additional
money can be reinvested into the project to cover shipping or other costs, or
donated to a special project. Be clear in promotion and sales whether costs cover
the shirt only, or whether they include a fundraising surcharge that benefits
a cause or project.
Keep good records to ensure your sales go smoothly for everyone.
Announce your group's action through Minutes for Mission,
campus forums, newsletter articles, announcements, press releases, etc.
Educate Children, Youth and Adults
In 2004 Yadira Vallejos (co-op president) and Ruth Mena (board member) participated
in a Sweat-Free tour of the US, visiting 20 cities in 30 days and making over
120 presentations to promote the co-op. The tour was sponsored in part by the
PC(USA). Here they pose with Becca Renk (co-op volunteer) and a cardboard cutout
of the Horizons magazine character Geneva (of “Dispatch from Forbearance
Presbyterian Church”). From L to R: Becca Renk, Geneva, Yadira and Ruth.
Photo courtesy of Enough for Everyone. Educate those who wear your Sweat-Free Ts about sweatshops in our world and what we can do about them.
Use the shirts to educate children, youth and adults about
sweatshops, global issues and fair trade. Discuss the issues in Sunday school,
study groups, gatherings, or adult forums. Plan a lesson or event around Sweat-Free
Ts.
Download educational
materials, order videos and more. (For sample lesson plans with children or youth, “Talking
with Children and Youth about Sweat-Free Ts” will be particularly helpful.)
Hold a forum or host a special speaker. As much as possible,
connect sweatshop issues and the global garment industry to any related issues
in your locale or region.
Check this Web site periodically for announcements regarding
speaker tours that may be coming to your area.
Learn more about
companies from whom you or your group members may be purchasing (search by
product or brand name). Based on what you learn, consider how you might align
your purchasing patterns in the future to further reflect your faith and values.
Share the Good News
Publicize your commitment to Sweat-Free Ts by writing newsletter articles, press releases and stories for circulation.
Encourage your presbytery’s summer camping program as well as its congregations to use Sweat-Free Ts. Contact your presbytery’s Hunger Action Enabler (through your presbytery office) or the Enough for Everyone office for support.
Offer Sweat-Free Ts alongside fair trade coffee or crafts during holiday bazaars, church auctions or yard sales, community events, farmers markets and fundraisers.
Include Sweat-Free Ts in gift baskets of fairly traded products to welcome new members, show appreciation to faithful volunteers, as Christmas gifts or on other occasions.
Use t-shirt sales to benefit your fundraising project, get others involved, and raise awareness about sweatshops and the plight of global workers.
Encourage local businesses and stores to carry sweat-free products. Inform retailers and wholesalers about sweatshop issues. Inquire about the origin of their products, the people who assembled them, wages and working conditions. Many may not know, but as people of faith who patron their businesses we can encourage them to seek manufacturer disclosure of working conditions and practices.
Thank your local businesses that already support fair trade and sweat-free garments.
Obtain ideas, stories and guidance from the online Organizing
Guide, produced by Bangor Clean Clothes.
Share the good news with neighbors, friends and relatives!
Celebrate World Fair Trade Day. Start planning for May 9, 2009!
Contribute
Consider donating to support the work of the Sweat-Free Cooperative and the Sweat-Free Ts ministry of the PC(USA).
The Fair Trade Zone, producers of Presbyterian Sweat-Free T-Shirts, are expanding their cooperative in Nicaragua. Donations to this fund provide for capital improvements, training and technical opportunities. The sewing cooperative is located in Nueva Vida, one of the poorest and most densely populated communities in Latin America. Help build on the Fair Trade Zone's success by supporting their exciting expansion and growth.
Enough for Everyone is a partnership ministry of the General Assembly Council which helps congregations, individuals, middle governing bodies and agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) participate responsibly in the global economy. Contributions to this fund support the programs of Enough for Everyone: Presbyterian Coffee Project, Eco-Palms, Sweat-free Ts, Investing in Hope, Electric Stewardship, Global Marketplace and Just Living. |
