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Something Light: 20 to go

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Written by Kristin Chapman

December 4, 10:17 AM

Three weeks from today it will be Christmas–which means you only have about 20 more days to finish your Christmas shopping. Stumped about what meaningful gifts to get for your friends and family? You might want to look into charitable gifts.

Many of us have heard about World Vision’s gift catalog. But there are other options, as well, which you can learn more about over at Redefine Christmas. Some additional ideas include:

For coffee lovers, Cauzal Coffee gives 25 percent of every sale to a humanitarian cause.
Family Christian Stores, in connection with the James Fund, has a special offer where you can “adopt” a Barnabas Bear that will then be delivered to an orphan in your community.
And there’s always WORLD’s new First Job Fund. (Shameless plug, I know.)

Any other creative and charitable gift giving you’d like to suggest? What about other ways you and your family “give back” at Christmas?

Topic: Watercooler Chatter, WorldMagBlog

Keywords: charitable gifts, charity, Christmas, Christmas gifts, gift giving

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back to top18 Comments to “Something Light: 20 to go”

BY michelle 12.04.08 AT 10:34 AM

Several years ago I gave my sister-in-law-who-has-everything (I have four like that) and was at the time the president of the LA Junior league with a buzzing bee as her logo, a Heifer International bee hive for Christmas.

The look on her face when she read the card was priceless, along with the joyous wonder in her voice: “Did you really give me a bee hive for Christmas?”

One of the best gifts ever. We all like the idea of little Bs buzzing around south America in her honor!
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BY Pauline 12.04.08 AT 11:14 AM

Instead of giving your child’s teacher a gift, get a book for the classroom or school library, or an educational toy or game for the classroom (if it’s an elementary school – they need stuff to do when they have indoor recess).

I’ve always liked giving to Heifer International also, for my relatives who are older and have, if not everything, everything they need/want (and the last thing they want is more stuff to find a place for and maybe have to dust). USA Today had an article on this a couple days ago, which I blogged on, listing not only Heifer Intl and World Vision but several other charities that have similar gift-giving opportunities.
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BY Graceland 12.04.08 AT 11:29 AM

How about making a contribution in someone’s name to the Human Fund?
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BY Peter L 12.04.08 AT 12:56 PM

Give to missionaries for private use or for helping needy folks where they live.
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BY KayVee 12.04.08 AT 1:29 PM

The Family Christian Store in Escondido gives the bears to children in the foster child program. Sleep Train bedding stores also support the needs of these often overlooked children by having drives to collect school supplies and clothing for them throughout the year.
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BY Karen O 12.04.08 AT 1:43 PM

Samaritan’s Purse also has something like Heifer International.

I prefer the word “giving” to “giving back”.
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BY Duncan 12.04.08 AT 1:50 PM

My husband and I host a Christmas gathering for our friends every year. The entrance requirement is that each guest must bring a gift for an underprivileged child. The next day we take them all for distribution.
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BY Bob Buckles 12.04.08 AT 2:17 PM

My sister-in-law, a normally nice person, suggested at Thanksgiving that we all give a gift to charity instead of to each other. That is just too PC for me. We give significantly all year anyway. Is Christmas very special in Indonesia?
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BY Graceland 12.04.08 AT 3:12 PM

Duncan #7,

You mean homosexuals care for the underprivileged?
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BY Duncan 12.04.08 AT 3:19 PM

Graceland #9

Shocking isn’t it? We try to fit it in between indoctrinating youth and destroying civilization.
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BY Graceland 12.04.08 AT 3:25 PM

Duncan,

I’m afraid a lot on this blog believe that wholeheartedly.
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BY Cameron 12.04.08 AT 5:45 PM

https://giving.samaritanspurse.org/c-7-gift-catalog.aspx

is the link for the catalog for Samaritan’s Purse. Gifts start below ten dollars and range into the thousands, so there’s something for everybody!!
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BY litoralise 12.04.08 AT 9:52 PM

Here is a really neat idea of using Samaritan’s Purse’s gift catalog in the context of a family’s Christmas Day tradition:

http://eucharisteojourney.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-gift-for-jesus.html
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BY RPN 12.05.08 AT 12:14 AM

Duncan 10-

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BY dbrose 12.05.08 AT 12:15 PM

Thanks for letting everyone know about Cauzal Coffee (http://www.cauzal.com). Not only is our coffee some of the best you’ll ever taste, but you can also direct 25% of the purchase price to the cauze of your choice: hunger, HIV/AIDS, unclean water, and human trafficking. (Soon you’ll also be able to choose from a poverty cauze and a disaster cauze.) We support great organization, such as IJM, World Vision, Compassion, Children’s Hunger Fund, and World Relief. To comment or learn more about our coffee, our cauzes, and what we’re thinking about, visit our blog at http://www.cauzalblog.com. Thanks!
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BY Karen O 12.05.08 AT 6:55 PM

Bob – Giving to a charity instead of to each other isn’t necessarily merely a PC idea. With the economy in trouble, our possibly-dwindling resources might be better used giving to those in need rather than to family members that have enough “stuff”.

If they all agree, that is.
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BY Victoria 12.05.08 AT 7:24 PM

Give money to help those in your area, through your church – Most pastor’s and elders know of those who are in desperate need – No one needs to give to organizations which have high administrative costs.

Another tip: Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability Check out http://www.ecfa.org/

Type in the name to the far left of the page, it will give you INSTANT results – don’t forget to check out the ‘charities’ which organizations support –

Call organization, inquiring as to how much percentage is given of every dollar to those in need.
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BY Karen O 12.06.08 AT 1:32 PM

Good point, Victoria. We give much (if not most) of our charitable giving to local places & needs.
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