WESTBROOK – The Parent-Teacher Organization of Congin Elementary School in Westbrook brainstorms each year on how to raise funds for the school, but during the last two years has concentrated on creating a more local flair.

This year, with the goal of maintaining “community-based fundraising,” the group is hosting its first Congin Fall Harvest Artisan and Craft Fair, Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. The event will feature arts, crafts, a bake sale, and more from a number of vendors, some of which also participated in the Maine Market in Riverbank Park this past summer.

Congin PTO member Kathleen O’Neill-Lussier said having a number of vendors from the Maine Market brings in local products for the fundraiser, and also puts more of a spotlight on each vendor, as well as the Maine Market itself.

“This seemed like another win-win,” she said. “The Maine Market would get more publicity and the PTO would have a fun, and hopefully profitable, fundraiser.”

The Congin event is one of dozens of traditional holiday fairs scheduled for the next few Saturdays in churches and community centers throughout the area.

Janet Crawford, the principal of Congin School, said Monday that the fair has 28 confirmed vendors so far, with 14 more that have shown interest in participating.

Although the first season was deemed a success this year, the Maine Market in Westbrook still needs to create a higher profile with residents and potential vendors, according to James Tranchemontagne, who organizes the market for the Westbrook/Gorham Community Chamber.

Tranchemontagne said Tuesday that the chamber had been looking to bring back the market once more for the holiday season, given that this time of year is popular for regional craft fairs and other community events. But after struggling to lock down a venue, the chamber decided that teaming up with Congin would be a perfect fit.

“The chamber is not just committed to helping business and promoting businesses. We also have a great belief in helping the educational systems in our towns,” Tranchemontagne said. “We do a lot of scholarships every year, our board members sit on other boards to improve schools, and in this case saw a way of helping not only Congin but Maine Market participants, as well.”

O’Neill-Lussier said she became a regular at the Maine Market this past summer, and believes that any community event that can raise funds for a local cause, but also turn more people onto small local businesses, is worthwhile.

“I told everyone that I could, because the Maine Market is good for Westbrook and because I would rather buy my local produce here than travel to another town’s farmers market every week,” she said, referring to the market’s inaugural season. “Come September, I was kind of amazed at how many people still had not heard about the market.”

“This helps us keep the Maine Market brand fresh in people’s mind too,” said Tranchemontagne about the craft fair.

Crawford said that when discussing dates for the event, the weekend before Thanksgiving was perfect for families looking to get a “jump on holiday shopping.”

“We hope to draw people from all over Westbrook and the Greater Portland area,” she said, adding that they’ll also be selling coffee and baked goods from the Baker’s Bench in the morning, and steamed hot dogs and homemade chili for lunch.

Handcrafted items available for purchase at the fair will include woven bead jewelry, etched cutting boards and glassware, felted puppets and items spun from lama wool, watercolor prints, handmade soaps, photographs, wooden bowls, vases and lamps, denim & other fabric bags, ornaments, wood products including wine holders and cutting boards, and more.

O’Neill-Lussier said the organizers have also established a relationship with Karma Fair Trade, a Portland-based store that sells art and other handmade products from impoverished areas around the world, and will be selling those items, as well.

The Congin PTO raises funds for a variety of uses, mostly for supporting teachers’ classroom projects and technology. According to O’Neill-Lussier, so far this year, the group has provided refreshments at an open house, teacher conferences and a Veterans Day celebration.

Last year, the PTO paid for the kindergarten to go on a field trip in the spring, as the field trip budget had already been used. She said the group would like to see more after-school activities open for students, with Crawford already working to get additional clubs underway.

Crawford said the PTO has an “activites/intramurals” account through the school budget that pays stipends to teachers for facilitating after school activities and clubs.

In past years, the Congin PTO has run a catalog sale, which, according to O’Neill-Lussier, was successful in bringing in funds, but lacked the community feel many of the members were looking for.

“Last year, we started talking about changing our strategy to focus on more community-based fundraising, more of a reciprocal relationship, they help us raise money and we help by sending business their way,” she said.