Christmas shopping with a difference

It is already November, so it’s time to think about a different approach to Christmas shopping. Why not take advantage of the many charity gifts available?

Instead of racking your brains about what to give to the ‘person who has everything’ why not take advantage of the many charity gifts on offer. Some can be fun too … there must be someone you’d love to give a goat to, or a toilet maybe?

The Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) has a Gifts of Grace Christmas catalogue from its projects. On offer are chickens for $10 which includes training so that farmers in Cambodia learn about how to raise poultry. $31 will purchase fruits tree seedlings with 4-5 days’ training for home gardening. Adult literacy programs cost $160. $37 will provide a start-up business loan to help set up a little shop, start a bike repair business or buy a cow. $5,500 will partner a village in Cambodia to support development activities as needed most.

Tear Australia organizes (Arguably) The World’s Most useful Gift Catalogue. From $5 for school supplies or fish farming to $1,500 for a well there is something for every budget. For every item you purchase you can choose either a traditional printed card of an e-card to send. All purchases also receive a tax-deductible receipt. Plus, in June 2009 you will be sent an update on how gifts are helping change lives, if you provide your e-mail address when you make a purchase.

World Vision Australia offers Smiles: the best gifts in the world. You can choose from for example: a chicken for $6, a piglet for $47, a donkey for $225, a beehive for $779, $1,409 will get clean water for a community. World Vision also has a Gift Registry where you can indicate which gifts you would like to include.

The Fred Hollows Foundation invites you to give a Gift of Sight for $25. The Gift of Sight cards can be personalized for birthday, Christmas, anniversary, thank you.

Oxfam Australia provides Oxfam Unwrapped. Gifts include a bicycle ambulance for $296, $40 for literacy classes, $104 for bees, $15 for cattle manure, $10 for a chicken, $78 for a goat couple for an investment. Oxfam also runs the Oxfam Shop where you can buy more conventional gifts to contribute to making a difference in someone else’s life.

CARE Australia provides a gift catalogues where you can choose, for example, a variety of animals, including pigs, goats, chickens. Further choices include a sewing machine for $100, $330 will train a teacher, $660 will provide literacy training materials. More expensive is a grey water system at a cost of $2,600 or a solar panel to power a school for $10,000. You will receive a card for each item you order showing a picture of what you have bought and tells how it is helping those in need to send to family or friends.

Of course, any charity will be pleased to receive a donation in lieu of a gift. So when you’re planning your Christmas shopping this year, give some thought to providing gifts that are not only useful, but are a lifeline to the world’s poorest people!

And don't restrict yourself to Christmas either – this is something to think about for birthdays, anniversaries, valentines, or any special celebration!

First published : September 2007
Rewritten: November 2008

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