World Fair Trade Day organizers across N. America attracted at least 64,594 participants to FT coffee breaks, eclipsing the record of 52,061 set on October 2008 by Finland.  The N. America tally also surpassed our own record from May 2008 of 12,500. And, we're still counting...  A final tally will be published by the end of June.  Note that this year's rules counted events during a 2-week window, not just during a 1-day window used by N. America & Finland in 2008.  If you haven't reported your own tally, please email a count to FTRN by June 15.

The world record effort included these noteworthy events:
-  TransFair USA involved 24,900 participants at their metro event in Boston, and another 1813 at their event in SF in conjunction with Bike-to-Work Day.
-  Peruvian Producer U.S. Tour, Resonating Change:  Connecting Communities Through Fair Trade, sponsored by Green America and Partners for Just Trade, attracted 1500 participants in 2 weeks of events through CO, WI, MN & IL.
-  Handmade Expressions recruited their UPS lady, Bonnie, to deliver FT chocolate and Fair Trade information at every stop in Austin, TX, on Friday, May 8!
-  The first-ever FT shop in Puerto Rico, La Chiwinha, overcame that challenging experience to have 42 participants, many of whom said it was the best coffee they've ever had.
-  Lutheran World Relief helped organize 60 events in 28 different states that reached 5,253 people.

Check out more stories, details, and weekly updates, at WFTD09.

In setting a new world record, N. America depended on the commitment and creativity of over 400 organizers.  They held over 456 events, nearly double the amount from last year.  They generated over 101 media clips, getting WFTD covered by TV, radio, newspaper and online blogs.  And we're still counting...

The World Fair Trade Organization reports that 889 celebrations were held around the planet, with over 275,000 people honoring World Fair Trade Day.

We would like to honor some of the organizers that were inspirational in their communities, coordinated several events and got thousands involved:
1.  Nancy Jones, from Chicago Fair Trade, coordinated several media channels, including Chicago NPR, and helped events at several local coffee and tea shops!
2.  Jim Henson, of Fair Trade Town - Chico, CA, catalyzed lots of events in May.
3.  Steve Watrous from Milwaukee Fair Trade Coalition sponsored a "crawl" of more than 30 Fair Trade retailers!
4.  Alli Reed from United Students for Fair Trade coodinated thousands of university student breaks and received university Fair Trade pledges.
5.  Heidi Baiki from Truckee, CA, and her company, Fair & Green, involved surrounding towns and received media coverage for events in the Tahoe area of California and Nevada.
6.  Kylie Kurtz from Earth Fare sponsored events with retailers and provided a generous coffee donation from Larry's Beans.
7.  Jeanine Boucher-Colbert, the Youth Programs Coordinator from Catholic Relief Services reached more than 1000 individuals at the Catholic Women's Convocation!

FTRN thanks these superb organizers, and hundreds of others who made WFTD full of engaging events this year!  Check out event photos and videos at WFTD09.