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Our team of volunteers recently celebrated 35 years of being a volunteer run nonprofit retail store. At this year's annual volunteer luncheon, we celebrated groups of volunteers based on the year they started volunteering. Please note, not all current volunteers are pictured but we appreciate them all the same! Margaret Rutter shares: I have been at Crossroads 30+ years, almost from the beginning. I was at First Presbyterian Church when Charline Watts presented the idea and asked for volunteers. Given my interest in social justice and other countries, Crossroads sounded like the perfect place to volunteer and I've never been sorry! Pictured for 1988 - 1989: Joyce Topping, Sally Bailey, Marilyn Townley, and Margaret Rutter Pictured for 2009 -2010: Joni Painter, Terry Smalls, and Ruby Jones. Pictured for 2012-2016: Bonnie Laub, Jean Wallace, Katie Pratt, Margaret Kutemeier, Karlene Bledsoe, Deanna Mosher, Willemina Esewein, Pat Fitzgerald, Gloria Kelley (who actually started in the 90s!) and Donna Brouillet Pictured for 2017 - 2019: Swati Khanna, Nancy Erickson, Penny Kellogg, Debbie Marotz, Margaret Hawkins and Jill Miller Pictured from 2020 and 2021: Peggy Donaldson, Paula Morris, Sandy Hinthorn, Joann Hart, Laurel Huisman, Sophia Glass Pictured from 2022 and 2024: Jean Steichen and Aubrey Wagoner Bonnie started volunteering at Crossroads in 2016 at the suggestion or rather insistence of friend, Terry Small. She shares: I had been volunteering through RSVP at various locations and am very glad that Terry introduced me to Crossroads. I enjoy the flexible schedule as a volunteer and being able to trade shifts with someone else if needed. A highlight of volunteering is meeting people, making new friends and seeing the new items that arrive to store and buying them! Being a volunteer at Crossroads is a friendly atmosphere and I feel I'm helping people less fortunate than me. Swati Khanna shares: I started volunteering at Crossroads in the summer of 2017. I had moved to Bloomington the year before, and was looking for volunteer opportunities. Walking downtown one day, I decided to go into Crossroads and ask if they needed more volunteers, and I have been there ever since! I enjoy all aspects of it - working with different people each time, seeing the crowds come in on Saturdays, and giving out the mini chocolates to those who use their own bag for purchases. Aubrey, a new volunteer shares: I've been volunteering at Crossroads since 2022. My teenage daughter was already volunteering at the time and convinced me to join. It was a great activity for us to do together and I've continued volunteering since she has gone off to college because I'm passionate about the fair trade mission and about supporting a local business in the downtown area. The volunteers are such a wonderful group of people and I'm proud to know I am helping to keep the dream alive that was started by four local women over 35 years ago.

Every October, we get to join in the international celebration of Fair Trade Month as well as the store's anniversary This month, we're elated to focus on the store's 36 year old success in downtown Bloomington. We invite our neighbors, friends, supporters and customers to join us on October 26 to celebrate the mission, passion and impact of fair trade. All of our fair trade friends are invited to take 20% off any item of your choice! Anniversary Celebration Day - October 26, 2024 10 am - 5 pm Learn More About Fair Trade Month Share your Story! We want to hear your favorite story of shopping at Crossroads! Do you have a favorite memory or product? Tell us why shopping fair trade is important to you! Your stories will help us celebrate the impact of our 36 years in business.