We, the undersigned, ask our bookstore managers and buyers to source $300,000 of Alta Gracia, which would equal the amount carried by a number of other colleges, including Duke University. Alta Gracia Apparel is a groundbreaking business based in Villa Altagracia, Dominican Republic where workers earn a living wage. Based on a cost-of living study conducted by the Workers Rights Consortium, a labor rights watchdog with more than a decade of experience monitoring the supply chains of over 180 universities, this living wage is set at more than three times the Dominican minimum wage. This living wage allows workers to cover all of their basic needs: food, shelter, transport, education for children, health care, and moderate savings. Alta Gracia Apparel is the first clothing brand ever to make its products in a factory where workers have union representation, and where the Workers Rights Consortium has unrestricted factory access to verify that all pay and labor rights commitments are being met. In addition to being socially conscious, Alta Gracia sales have proven to be profitable at 400 bookstores nation-wide when bookstores make a genuine effort to educate consumers about the impact Alta Gracia has on the Dominican Republic The sustainability and success of this uplifting new business model is dependent on the commitment of the University of Iowa State bookstore's orders from Alta Gracia.

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