Continuing our partnership with Mercado Global by supporting their community of indigenous Latinx weaving artisans through a two-part COVID-19 relief program.
Since the onset of our partnership with Mercado Global in 2019 (when we visited Guatemala to work with their team), we have continued to develop finding new ways to give back and support the Brooklyn-based non-profit. For Indigenous communities in that part of the world, tourism serves as the primary source of revenue. So, when the pandemic forced Guatemala to shut down many of its factories — and essentially its tourism trade — Mercado Global’s innovative home-based, high volume production model provided them a safe way to continue securing an income. Known for their beautifully woven accessories, Mercado shifted focus in April by starting to produce much-need masks, which inspired us to support them by launching these two initiatives:
Masks for Social Justice:
These hand-woven masks are handmade by the Mercado Global artisans who live in the Highlands near Lake Atitlan, in Guatemala. Each purchase supports the production of two masks – one for you and one that will be donated to those on the front lines of the racial justice movement, with each color representing a different community:
Red: Masks for Migrants in partnership with the organization Justice for Women: for every mask purchased, one will be donated to a migrant woman in need
Black: Masks for Racial Justice in partnership with Latinx organizations throughout Central America: for every mask purchased, one will be donated to a Latino woman in need
Blue: Masks for Guatemala: For every mask purchased one will be distributed to Mercado Global’s partner artisan communities to help prevent and contain the spread of COVID through the highlands of Guatemala.
Hand Sanitizer Donation:
In the Highlands region of Guatemala, PPE equipment and hand sanitizer are not only difficult to find, but incredibly expensive. To decrease the spread of COVID-19 in these communities, Free People is proud to donate 70,000 units of hand sanitizer.
To learn more about Mercado Global’s incredible mission of empowering Latinx women through the preservation of craft, visit their website.
+ To support their mission, shop the entire FP x Mercado Global collection here.