The Handmade Market at Messiah Lutheran Church will raise funds for an Alabama agency that helps children in Honduras.

Local artists and crafters have created and donated more than 1,000 gifts to sell at the fundraiser. Market times are Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Oct. 28 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

The public is invited to attend the market, which is in its fourth year.

“The crafters and artists who donate their time and talent make unique items for this fundraiser,” market coordinator Jackie Myers said. “Each person has a personal touch. The artistic creativity and quality of the pieces have risen each year.”

The market will include home accessories, Christmas decorations, canned goods, baked treats and gifts for all ages.

All proceeds will aid the Alabama-based, nonprofit Lunches for Learning organization in feeding 61 children at Benito Montoya School in Nacaome, Honduras, Myers said.

A Messiah Lutheran member, Myers grew up in Honduras and witnessed the challenges that face many children there. “I have seen firsthand the circle of poverty that lack of education brings,” Myers said. This lunch “perhaps is the only meal the children will have during the day.”

The lunches give school families the incentive to keep their children enrolled through sixth grade. “Just learning to read and write will open doors for these children,” Meyers said.

Lunches for Learning currently provides lunches and nutritional supplements to 1,463 impoverished students in 25 elementary schools in Honduras.

Ron Hicks founded Lunches for Learning in 2004 after meeting nine-year-old Anabel Anabel, who was begging at the border crossing into El Salvador. Lunches for Learning began its mission to break the cycle of poverty and helped Anabel return to elementary school.

Messiah Lutheran Church’s address is 7740 U.S. 72 W. in Madison, next to Redstone Federal Credit Union.

For more information about the market, call the church at 256-721-0041 or visit mlutheran.com/handmademarket.html. For information about Lunches for Learning, visit lunchesforlearning.org.