HOBE SOUND — People from throughout the community here learned more about the world in which they live and helped some of the world’s poorest people by simply buying Christmas presents.

More than 100 people from the surrounding community stopped by First United Methodist Church, Hobe Sound, Nov. 16-17 to do their Christmas shopping at the church’s Alternative Gift Market, according to the Rev. Linda Standifer, the church’s pastor. The church sold more than $4,400 worth of gift items.

Standifer said she got the idea for the market from “Interpreter” magazine, published by United Methodist Communications, and her daughter, Stephanie Rollen, whose Presbyterian church in Atlanta has held one for several years.

“The purpose of the Alternative Gift Market is to give people in the community a broader image of the world and to allow people to do their Christmas shopping in a way that helps people in Third World countries,” she said.

The church worked with several organizations and ministries that distribute crafts and food products from Third World countries and return the majority of the profits to the people in those countries, according to Standifer.

One group is Ten Thousand Villages, a Mennonite ministry that offers handmade merchandise from 30 countries. “The people, mostly women, who make the hand crafts earn the profit instead of Wal-Mart or some such place,” Standifer said.

Based on the size of the congregation, Ten Thousand Villages sent the church $3,500 in merchandise and paid the shipping to the church. The church kept records of what was sold and paid for that. It was allowed to return the rest and keep 10 percent of the proceeds, which was used to pay the return shipping on unsold items.

“The merchandise was amazingly beautiful and very reasonably priced,” Standifer said. “They [Ten Thousand Villages] told us they expected we should sell half of what they sent. We sold much more than half.”

The ministry also provided display materials and a video.

Standifer said they also worked with the Women’s Bean Project and Pura Vida Coffee. At the Women’s Bean Project, a non-profit organization in Denver, women learn employability skills. Some women make soup, bread, salsa and other mixes, while others serve as secretaries and staff. Each item is signed by the woman who made it. Pura Vida Coffee allows the coffee growers to make the profit from their labors.

The church had a display from Heifer Project International (HPI), which allows people to buy livestock or trees in honor or memory of someone. HPI sends the animals to Third World villages to teach residents farming skills and help them develop self-sufficiency. “Bob [Standifer] and I bought a sheep for each of our children, a trio of rabbits for his brother and parts of a goat for other people,” Standifer said.

A Santa’s Secret Shop run by the youth gave children a chance to choose gifts for their parents, grandparents and others in private. “The children decorated their own gift bags so their presents could remain a secret,” Standifer said.

Church members also sold breakfast in the church’s fellowship hall on Sunday.

“One unexpected response was that people were overwhelmed with the intricate and high-quality work done for such a small amount of money,” Standifer said. “It opened their eyes. We buy little trinkets for stocking stuffers or to grace our home so that a mother can feed her children.”