(Mondays are Lynn Miles Peisker days at The Daily Blur. Lynn’s the Executive Sister and Chief Plate Spinner at the Imagination Advisory Group. Check out her growing archive of posts here.)
On Mondays in December, we’ve planned a series of posts to help us focus on a more helpful holiday season. We have much to be thankful for and that has us thinking about how we can do more this holiday season to express our gratitude and to help others at the same time. We are all about fantastic gift-giving too, so these posts focus on cool places you can get cool stuff that will make many people on your list and around the world happy this holiday season. So buy at least one gift locally, and then consider making charitable gift giving a part of your holiday plan this year.
Are there people on your list who don’t really need or want any more stuff? Well, we have ideas for you right here! And all of them are quick and easy – you can finish your shopping (and change some lives) with just a little time at your computer.
Heifer International‘s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. This organization has been around since 1944 and through their holiday catalog, you have the opportunity to give, on behalf of someone you love, animals to families in poverty throughout the world. For example, a flock of ducklings can be gifted for $20. The ducklings help a family begin a business that will ensure sustainability. You can gift sheep, water buffalo, and yes, even a heifer.
World Vision has a similar program. These gifts that enable self sustaining businesses for families around the globe are examples of helping that really helps. World Vision, primarily known for their child sponsorship program, is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. They currently are at work in over 100 countries.
You might want to check out The Good Card from Network for Good. It is a gift card with stored value that can be redeemed as a donation to more than 1.2 million charities. Sent it via email or print it at home; it is quick and easy but also meaningful. . Your giftee can then choose his or her own charity. How cool is that?!
And finally, I think Kiva is pure genius. Empowerment through micro loans. These loans change lives of people in poverty around the world as they help individuals start businesses. When the business becomes successful, you get a return on your investment. You can gift someone through Kiva and then they they can invest it after reviewing proposals by the budding entrepreneurs. Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of micro-finance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.
Honor someone you really care about by investing in the future of someone you may never meet? Sounds crazy, right? But it just might be the kind of idea that is crazy good this Christmas.
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