Officials Extend 'Bead for Life' Fundraiser in UNA Women's Center

Dec. 8, 2011

FLORENCE, Ala. -- Officials have extended the "Bead for Life" fundraiser in the Center for Women's Studies at the University of North Alabama through Dec. 16. The fundraiser exists to eradicate poverty in Africa through the sale of Ugandan jewelry.

Emily Horn Kelley, coordinator of the Center for Women’s Studies, said they will be selling handmade jewelry and Shea butter peppermint lip balm and soap produced by women in Uganda. The jewelry is composed of beads that are made from old newspapers and magazines. Kelley said the Ugandan women cut the old papers into long triangles and roll them into beautiful beads of all shapes, sizes and colors.

Last year, workers sold approximately $3,000 worth in the jewelry on campus in less than a week. Kelley said 4.7 percent of sales are used for administration and fundraising, but the remaining 95.3 percent goes back to Ugandan women, communities and programs in those areas.

Bead for Life is a nonprofit organization that is part of the international grassroots movement to put an end to extreme poverty across the world, according to the group’s website. The organization came together in September of 2004 and has trained 883 women to make beads and earn income.

For more information, contact Emily Horn Kelley at the Center for Women’s Studies at 256-765-4380 or e-mail ekelley1@una.edu.