Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Gift Alternatives

I'm in the market to inspire people to think about gift-giving a little differently this season. I've already gotten a couple RAs on board. I simply love it when they say, "can you email me those ideas?" I got on my soapbox tonight and shared the following sites with them; I think the light bulb clicked on for them and I'm thrilled. ;)

  • Christmas Cards made by at-risk children in Romania at an art-therapy program at the Community Center. All proceeds benefit the children at the center. (courtesy of Word Made Flesh)
  • Gifts of Hope: Family Disaster Survival Kits, Emergency Medical Care, Child Survival Kits, Clinic Packs, Dental Visit, Mother & Child Survival, HIV & AIDS Relief, Gifts of Life, Emergency Care, Orphan Hope Gift (Courtesy of Medical Teams International)
  • PhotogenX Calendars & Postcards: Susi Childers compiled beautiful photographs from around the world. "The vision of photogenX is to use photography as a tool for cultrual transformation so that issues such as gender based injustice will be issues of history instead of the future. photogenX advocates for those who cannot speak for themselves and challenges the current global status quo. In addition, photogenX seeks to capture the people and places of every nation in the world showing off their beauty but not masking their pain." (Her father, John Childers, spoke in chapel at NCU. He gave me a copy of "A Voice for the Voiceless: 30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless. Addressing global issues of gender-based injustice)
  • Heifer International: Ending hunger, Caring for the earth. Choose a meaningful gift to a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant.
  • Cards from Africa: Handmade cards from Rwanda - improving the quality of life for orphaned kids. Calendars & bookmarks, too! (Thanks, Amy!)
  • Stuff a Stocking Project: An outreach of Soar International Ministries which provides Christmas stockings to needy children in Russia. (Thanks, Beth!)
Maybe something will click for you, too.


May you be blessed by giving.
Happy Shopping!

If you come across more alternative Christmas gifts, please comment on this page with the corresponding link.

3 comments:

Amy Wolff said...

love love love this.... thank you el.

Robby Larson said...

I love these ideas El! As for me, I have always liked the fact that with Heifer you can "give the gift of bees!" Yeah! How cool is that!

Beth said...

El - we enjoy your blog. Thanks for the great ideas...I've had fun sharing this link with others. The last several years, we've given gifts through World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org/home.nsf/index.htm?Open&lpos=mySpon_txt_WVHome). We enjoy picking out personalized "items" that relate to our loved ones. For example, my brother enjoys gardening, so we donated $ for gardening supplies in his name. The personalized cards that come with each gift are fun and easy to attach to a small something for each recipient. It also cuts down on shipping costs for those of us who live away from our families.

Merry Christmas, El!