Faith in Action T-Shirt Project

Where did your shirt come from?
Did you know that “sweatshop” workers living in impoverished countries around the world now provide us with the vast majority of the clothing on our backs and the shoes on our feet? These workers are mostly teenage girls and young women who toil for long hours, under inhumane conditions for wages that fail to provide for the necessities of life.

In addition, the cotton that is used to make our clothes is the second most pesticide-laden crop in the world. And although it’s only grown on 3-5% of the earth’s cultivated land, cotton accounts for 10% of the all the world’s pesticides each year. It takes approximately 1/3 pound of pesticides to make just one conventional cotton T-shirt!

When purchasing conventional T-shirts for our church related functions, we become unwitting participants in an exploitative system that not only traps thousands of workers and their families in an inescapable cycle of poverty; but is also having damaging effects on our environment.

What is the Faith in Action T-Shirt Project?
The T-shirt project provides an opportunity to educate our youth about the serious problems associated with the garment industry, and the option to purchase products more in keeping with our basic values of fairness, cooperation, and sustainability.

Our partners in this program are the organic clothing company Maggie’s Organics, and the worker owned sewing cooperative Maquiladora Mujeres; located in Nueva Vida, Nicaragua, and Screen Printer VG Kids.

The Faith in Action T-Shirt project makes it possible for youth groups to purchase shirts made in safe, dignified working conditions, for wages that allow workers to meet the basic needs of their families. Just as important, these durable, high quality shirts are made using organic cotton - meaning no harmful chemicals were used in the growing process.

The T-shirt project was organized in 2005 by the East Ohio United Methodist Church and Society Committee the Peace With Justice Project (coordinator: Rich Aronson, Bay Village, Ohio).

The Story Behind Maggie’s and the Women of Maquiladora Mujeres
Since 1992, Maggie’s Organics, located near Ann Arbor, MI, has been a business producing comfortable, basic, durable clothing; while staying committed to their belief in social responsibility, humility and sustainability.
"Grown and sewn" in the U.S. used to be the way Maggie’s Organics ensured the socially responsible business practices of their partners. However, in the late 90’s suppliers began going out of business at an alarming rate; and Maggie’s needed to get creative in finding viable alternatives that allowed them to stay true to their mission in a global economy dominated by sweatshops.

This determination not to relinquish the deeply held values of the company resulted in the creation of "Maquiladora Mujeres", a worker owned sewing cooperative in Nueva Vida, Nicaragua. Through Maggie’s contracts the sewers have been able to become vested members of the worker-owned plant that they built themselves, and earn a share of its profits. By establishing ownership in the co-op, the project has improved workers living standards and allowed them to take control of their lives.

[Note: The "Faith in Action" web page is scheduled for an extensive upgrade in late summer 2005, adding much more information about the program.]

For general or custom order information call: 800-528-6343
All orders ship within 4 weeks
Maggie's Organics imports the T-shirts, and VG Kids does the screen printing.

VG Kids, 815 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti, MI 48197
VG Kids FAX: 734-480-2263