NEW WILMINGTON

Gift shop works for global economic advances

The SERRV International Gift Shop, New Wilmington, will hold its Midsummer Market from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Located on the ground floor of the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church on Market St., the shop sells all of its wares from a tiny room, has limited shopping hours -- 9 to noon every Saturday -- and its volume of sales is certainly no threat to its commercial counterparts.

Yet its volunteer sales force considers the venture a noteworthy success, measured by a different bottom line.

The idea for SERRV was born as World War II was ending, according to the book "Social Responsibility in the Global Market," by Mary Ann Littrell and Marsha Ann Dickson. Members of the Church of the Brethren helped European refugees find work by buying many of their crafts and selling them in their home churches in the United States. When this assistance program became an official part of the church in 1950, it took the name SERRV -- Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocations.

In the 1960s, SERRV became a partner with Church World Service, the development arm of the National Council of Churches. By 1990 the organization was able to have a direct-mail catalog, and its sales reached nearly $4 million. Other partnerships were established and during the 1990s, SERRV also formed a partnership with Catholic Relief Services. By 1997, SERRV was purchasing from 100 different groups in 40 countries, and their sales were just under $5 million. In 1999, one year shy of its 50th anniversary, SERRV incorporated as a nonprofit organization, independent from the Church of the Brethren.

Growth is only part of SERRV’s successful story. It has managed to achieve a healthy bottom line while working for social and economic progress among the struggling countries and peoples who provide the products SERRV markets. Marti Boyd, shop coordinator at New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, said many of the items are made by women, and the money they earn from these sales enables them to raise their children.

SERRV’s earnings go back to these countries in the form of grants that help artisans improve their quality of life, and purchase or upgrade their equipment that will help them make a living. SERRV also provides consultants to help with marketing and pricing, and to help determine what products will find an audience in the United States and Western Europe.

Mrs. Boyd said SERRV consultants are careful not to "alter the culture or change the type of craft made" while offering this advice.

Cultural uniqueness can be seen in the SERRV shop’s many nativity scenes. The one from Bangladesh shows Mary keeping her infant son protected and hidden under her scarf and headdress.

Creativity is evident in the "Tree of Life" sculpture from Haiti, made from the top of a discarded oil drum. Quality is everywhere, from the onyx lamp from Pakistan, to the Nepali Sarangi -- a small stringed instrument carved from Shesham wood.

The New Wilmington shop purchased over $10,000 in SERRV items in 1999, and sales have been brisk. That money, Mrs. Boyd said, translates into support of 10 artisans and their families for one year. The church’s profits from its sales went to a local Habitat for Humanity program, the Sudan Women’s Sewing Project and the SERRV grant program.