Vendors from all over sold goods at the first Spring Fest Benefit Craft Fair on Saturday, hosted by USU’s Huntsman Scholars and the non-profit organization

<a href=”http://www.effectinternational.org/”>Effect International.</a>

The free event was held in the Logan Recreation Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. USU students and Cache Valley residents participated. Local vendors at Spring Fest included: Jessica’s Photography, Scentsy, The Pampered Chef, a booth selling henna tattoos and many others. USU alumnus Tyler Tolson, CEO of

<a href=”http://shopdenik.com/”>Denik</a>

, a notebook design company, participated as a vendor in Spring Fest. “I knew some of the students — the Huntsman Scholars who were putting it on,” Tolson said. “(Event organizers) knew what I was doing with my company, so they reached out to me. It sounded like it was going to a good cause, and it’s a good way to get exposure.” Dallin Maxfield, a Huntsman Scholar who planned the event, said the Huntsman Scholars and Effect International have been collaborating all year to raise $25,000 to build a school in Madhya Pradesh, India. The

<a href=”http://huntsman.usu.edu/scholars/”>Huntsman Scholars</a>

have been fundraising individually for it, he said, and 10 of them planned Spring Fest. “We divided into smaller groups, and each group is trying to raise money through various fundraisers for whatever they come up with,” Maxfield said. Maxfield said the idea for Spring Fest stemmed from Cache Valley’s November Fest and Summer Fest, which attract thousands of residents every year who are interested in craft buying and selling. Through online advertising, fliers, word of mouth and networking with November Fest hosts, he said, the event attracted close to 30 different vendors. “We just kind of had the idea, and we talked to people,” said Melody Jensen, a Huntsman Scholar. “We were just trying to brainstorm ways to raise money, and we wanted to kind of go out of the school a little bit, because it’s pretty saturated.” Maxfield said donations and vendor fees all go toward building the India school. Vendors were charged a flat fee but kept all profit earned at Spring Fest. Donation tables were set up throughout the Recreation Center as well.

<a href=”http://www.usustatesman.com/new-craft-festival-benefits-school-in-india-1.2726983″>To read the rest of this article on the Utah Statesman website, click here.</a>