Ten Thousand Villages, 915 King St., will hold two holiday season community shopping nights on Dec. 3 and 10 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Each night, during those hours, 20 percent of all sales will be donated to non-profit organizations "working to improve our community," according to Rose Bierce, Ten Thousand Villages. The following organizations will benefit from the donations.
* Dec. 3: ALIVE! A consortium of 41 Alexandria congregations that provide emergency food, furniture, housing assistance, preschool education, and other services to Alexandria's neediest citizens.
* Dec. 10: U.S. Green Building Council which promotes environmentally sustainable building practices throughout the nation. The Council will be using the night to raise money for SOME (So Others Might Eat), an emergency food program in the District of Columbia.
Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit, free trade organization that merchandises handmade items from craftspeople in developing countries who would otherwise be unemployed. Proceeds from the sale of the various items enables those artisans to provide for their families and send their children to school.