By: Taylor Martin
On Dec. 5, the Campus Activities Board presented the first Annual Milligan College Advent Market event
The Gregory Center lobby was filled with vendors selling a big variety of goods including hats, clothes, bags, ornaments, stationary, pottery, t-shirts, and jewelry.
“I bought two ornaments at the Women at Risk station,” said Lindsey Meding, senior.
Several international organizations were represented, including Rapha House, The Starfish Project, Women at Risk International, Refugee Beads, and Three Avocados. Nineteen local artists came from the areas of Johnson City, Elizabethton, Jonesborough, and Asheville.
Profits will go to the respective organizations or local artists who create them.
The Campus Activities Board celebrates the Christmas season on campus every year. This year students could enjoy coffee, hot chocolate and festive baked goods while browsing products made by local and global artists.
“This event is a good fit for our campus culture and the purposeful actions our community strives to bring into the things we do,” said Katy Mosby, director of campus activities.
The market gives each organization the opportunity to share its mission and work with Milligan. It creates opportunities for the Milligan community to help support various ministries and non-profit organizations. Many of the organizations represented deal with issues of social justice, a growing interest within the student body.
Mosby said the hope of the market was something beyond just shopping.
“Our hope is that by giving our community a meaningful place to buy gifts that we will also be able to give them time to focus on the purpose of Christmas and avoid the typical mass consumerism,” said Mosby. “Less time spent purchasing gifts mean more time spent with family, friends, and preparing spiritually for the birth of Christ.”
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