Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit alternative trading organization that provides vital, fair income to Third World people by selling their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America.

Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans who would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. This effort helps improve the economic situations of an estimated 60,000 artisans by providing income that can pay for nutritious food, education, health care and housing.

Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), the service, relief and development agency of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in North America.

Ten Thousand Villages began in 1946 when MCC worker Edna Ruth Byler of Akron, Pa., visited MCC volunteers who taught sewing classes in Puerto Rico. The volunteers were looking for ways to improve the lives of their students, many of whom lived in poverty. Byler brought several pieces of embroidery home to sell to friends and neighbors. The crafts were popular, and soon she added cross-stitch needlework from Palestinian refugees and hand-carved Haitian woodenware to her inventory. In the early 1970s, the flourishing project moved out of Byler's basement and became an official MCC program.

Thousands of volunteers in Canada and the United States work with Ten Thousand Villages in their home communities.

Our Name

The Ten Thousand Villages name reflects the belief that villages are still a place where artisans create authentic handicrafts. Multiply the village idea by 10,000 and it represents the world we want to create.

The logo represents the values we want to invest in the name Ten Thousand Villages. The continuous line of the rooftops reminds us we are all linked together as we live on this earth.  The light in the doors and windows reminds us of homes of people with whom we work in many villages.  The warm red color and hand-etched edge represents the materials and methods used to make the quality handicrafts we sell.