Algoma Makers Market prepares for pair of charitable vendor shows

The Algoma Makers Market is getting in the holiday spirit as plans are underway for two of their biggest upcoming vendor shows, with the goal of collecting as many donations as possible for a pair of local causes.

Entry to each market will be by cash donation, and 100 per cent of the cash proceeds will go to the Sault Area Hospital NICU.

Attendees are also invited to donate gifts for Brighter Beginnings, an afterschool children’s program run through the Soup Kitchen that will be collecting gift donations for kids aged four to 12 who need some love just in time for the holidays.

Algoma Makers Market organizer Makayla Legge says she’s excited to spearhead an initiative that will provide some much-needed assistance to these causes.

“These markets will be more than our average vendor market,” she says. “We try to help out different causes each year so they can all get a chance to receive something they need.”

“Brighter Beginnings will be accepting donations of toiletries, school supplies, puzzles, clothing – those sorts of things,” she adds. “If people are able to pre-wrap them like Christmas gifts, that would be amazing.”

Legge has been organizing the Algoma Makers Market for over a year to help reconnect small businesses with the community after the outbreak of COVID.

“Because I own a small business myself, I knew the hardships we had gone through because of COVID,” she says. “I wanted to find a way for them to be able to reconnect with the community after not being able to do in-person shows for a long time.”

Legge says the market’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent months.

“Going from a tiny parking lot where I had 15 vendors to now working under The Rink where we have upwards of 50 vendors nearly every other weekend, and sometimes a waitlist – I’ve never had that before,” she says. “We have lots of recurring customers.”

Fifty vendors will be offering their products at the first of two holiday markets on Nov. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Quattro Hotel.

The second market will feature 55 local vendors, taking place on Dec. 4 at the Marconi Cultural Event Centre, also from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.