SERRV International is an American

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

nonprofit, based in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

and operating in the United States, Africa, Asia and Latin America. It began operations in Europe in 1949, and has since expanded to thousands of artisans and farmers in 24 countries around the world, with artisans in 40 developing regions. In 2005 it had annual sales of over $8.5 million, now over $9 million.

History

SERRV was established by the

Church of the Brethren The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. ...

in 1949 as the Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocation, to help refugees in Europe recover economically and socially in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The acronym SERRV was later changed to stand for "Sustainable Employment, Resources, Rights and a Vision of Hope".

Philosophy

SERRV is an

Alternative Trading Organization An alternative trading organization (ATO) is usually a non-governmental organization (NGO) or mission-driven business aligned with the Fair trade movement, aiming "to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in developing regions of the world by ...

(ATO) and member of the

Fair Trade Federation The Fair Trade Federation (FTF) is a North American nonprofit trade association that provides support to and promotes North American businesses that they identify as being fully committed to the principles of fair trade. In this vein, it desc ...

. Among ATOs, SERRV stands out for its use of alternative distribution channels, primarily partnerships with US churches and organizations like the

Christian Children's Fund ChildFund, also known an ChildFund International, and formerly known as Christian Children's Fund, is a child-focused international development organization that provides assistance to children facing poverty and other challenges in 24 countries ...

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

, and

Lutheran World Relief Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is an international non-governmental organization that focuses on sustainable development projects and disaster relief and recovery. The organization was founded in 1945 to collect and send aid to people living in p ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrv International Alternative trading organizations Anabaptism in Maryland New Windsor, Maryland Charities based in Maryland Organizations established in 1949 Fair trade organizations Church of the Brethren 1949 establishments in Maryland