This year, the holiday gifts you give can keep on giving by helping students receive college educations. Both functional and decorative handmade corn brooms, attractive handcrafted ceramics, detailed ironwork, weaving, and woodwork are made by students at Berea College, a small liberal arts college in Kentucky's southern Appalachian region.
Preserving the region's craft traditions, the products of Berea College are fashioned using techniques that are centuries old. Ceramics are individually thrown and glazed. Students hammer and bend hot steel into stunning candelabras and other home accessories. Broomcorn is cut, arranged, and woven into attractive, yet durable brooms. Nearby Appalachian forests supply the cherry, oak, poplar, and walnut for cutting boards, stools, rolling pins, and chessboards.
Founded in 1855, Berea College charges no tuition, requires students to work a minimum of 10 to 15 hours per week, and recruits only students whose family incomes fall below a specified sum. Profits from the nationally-marketed crafts produced at Berea College help to continue the College's unique non-tuition plan. Berea students work in a range of fields to earn their keep at the school. While some make brooms or weave blankets, others wait tables at the Boone Tavern Hotel or work in the Berea Hospital. Grateful for the opportunity to help their school succeed, students perform building renovations, work in the cafeteria, and participate in the general upkeep of the institution. The wages they earn contribute toward room, board, and book expenses -- the college's work-study program creates a common bond among students.
The next time you find yourself looking for that special gift for the holidays or any other time of year, consider something that gives two gifts at once.. Berea College's beautiful, well-crafted, heirloom-quality objects carry a century old tradition of service and pride. A Berea gift is more than a broom, vase, candleholder, or picnic blanket for one friend; it is a gift of opportunity for 1,500 students.
For more information about Berea College, visit http://www.berea.edu. Visit the Berea College Craft catalogue online at http://www.bereacollegecrafts.com or call 1-800-347-3892 to order a catalogue by mail.
RSS