What? You mean you're not ready for Christmas? There's (an)other American holiday(s) to celebrate after Independence besides Christmas? Oh, yeah... little, (consumer) insignificant ones... Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving. But let's get to the real moneymaker: Christmas!
Every year since my husband & I were married, we've participated in the most ridiculous ritual with his brothers and their wives, and once or twice with my family as well. We draw names for gift-giving purposes, then proceed to ask the spouse of the person's name we drew what to buy for them for Christmas. (I told you it was a little ridiculous.)
This year, at the risk of being: (a) ridiculed, (b) persecuted, and/or (c) excommunicated for being an environmental, left-wing wacko, I'm going to make a radical, environmental, left-wing wacko suggestion. I'm going to suggest that, instead of gifts that we told our spouses to tell our name recipients to buy for us, we donate money to a charity that we tell our spouses to tell our name recipients that we support. Crazy, huh?
The two I will suggest for my name recipient are:
Kiva. This is a fantastic organization who lend money to specific entrepreneurs in the developing world to help them overcome poverty and in turn contribute to the economy. On the website, you can see see photos of the entrepreneur, often at their business they started, and it provides detailed descriptions of who they are, where they live, why they want to start this business, how much money they need, how much they’ve raised so far, and you can even see who else has donated. You donate in increments of $25.00, and as the debt is paid off, eventually you get your money returned to you, hopefully to re-invest in another entrepreneur.
Heifer International. The first two years we received their catalog in the mail, my husband and I scoffed. This could not be legit. You mean you can buy a goat or three rabbits or a llama for a family to help them produce milk to sell, weave yarn, fertilize small crops, increase their family's protein intake, or carry water? Since then, though, I've discovered that not only are they legit, they are supported by many notable figures, including Jimmy Carter, Ed Harris, and Susan Sarandon, among many others. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you can also choose to purchase a honeybee hive for families or to plant trees.
If anyone insists on purchasing an actual gift, I will be asking for sustainable gifts, like a bag from Alchemy Goods (hubby, are you reading?), a pair of Simple Shoes or a pair from MooShoes, more reusable tote bags, or gift certificates to Blue Canoe. These are all gifts that I can really get excited about receiving!
Whether you're giving or receiving this holiday season, I highly encourage you to steal all my gift ideas. I stole a couple of them myself.
good idea...we did the name drawing the last year or two but then this year my brother and i put our feet down and decided that as siblings we shouldn't give gifts. we'll still give to the nephews and our parents but the rest of us have enough as it is. i love heifer international too...i just don't like how many catalogs and mailings they send afterward!! fabulous post though!
Posted by: Simply Authentic | November 11, 2007 at 08:19 PM
THANKS for the kiva.org link! I heard about it awhile back but couldn't remember its name. I just made a loan and it feels great!
Posted by: Valerie | November 14, 2007 at 11:15 AM
This is a great idea. My sister and I swap charity gifts every year. This year I've bought her a length of hedgerow for wildlife conservation.
Posted by: Crafty Green Poet | November 25, 2007 at 11:23 AM