Holiday Gift Guide

What do you get the person who seemingly has everything!? I used to struggle with this question every Christmas. The easy answer for me was just don't get them anything. But after wise council, it turns out that option is not a viable one. So here are two more thoughts on this: 1) Buy them something that helps someone else. This way, even if they have it, you have helped someone else who doesn't. 2) Buy someone else something they don't have in their name. This way you have at least given them the feeling that they care and are part of something bigger. Now I know you are thinking, "I love it! How do you do this sort of thing?" I have prepared this easy guide for you to help you out.

Option 2 (My Favorite Option)

• Gift of Compassion - Your gift will help provide clean drinking water, medical treatment, disaster relief, food supplies and much more for Compassion-assisted children and their families. Meet real needs and bring real joy with a Gift of Compassion, then get family and friends involved by giving gifts in their honor.
• World Vision Gift Catalog - Choose a gift to donate in honor of someone special. You can choose to have a card mailed to you, send an e-card, or download a beautiful card to print. Your gift will bring urgent help and lasting hope for a child in need.

Option 1

• "Hope Gift Book" - 100% of the profit for items found in this catalog go toward funding for helping children at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
• Neem Products - JustNeem envisions a flourishing African continent. We believe that all human beings have the right to support themselves and their families through work. Therefore, we are partnering with like-minded NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that work with villagers in Mauritania, West Africa, to discover local resources and to establish economic opportunities for the local people.
• Hammocks - Yellow Leaf aims to engineer a turnaround in which marginalized ethnic groups such as the Mlabri apply their artisan talents towards creating a micro-economy that will elevate them from their former state and maintain their cultural identity, with the added benefit of eradicating toxic farming methods within the communities they partner with.
• Scarves - Your purchase of a fashionABLE scarf creates sustainable business for women in Africa.  Our commitment as a non-profit is to the development of people — fashionABLE works with women who have been exploited due to the effects of poverty.  So, when you purchase a scarf you are providing jobs, and then we send the profits back to holistically rehabilitate more women.
• Soccer Balls - The One World Futbol is now available online at a price comparable to that of standard soccer balls. And for every ball you buy, another ball will be donated to a non-governmental organization working with deserving children, communities, recreation programs, or soccer teams.
• Artisan Crafts - Chaka MarketBridge is a fair trade market for high-quality and unique gifts, home décor, and coffee that are handmade by undiscovered producers in the developing world.
• T-Shirts - Tees at Risk distributes a portion of every t-shirt sale to a charity (often chosen by the young designer of that t-shirt), and every t-shirt design is accompanied by a description by its designer of the brief background and motivation of his or her design. Every shirt has a QR code, so anyone with a data-connected, QR-enabled device can easily find out the "story" behind your cool shirt. 

In addition, I am willing to accept any of the above items for myself and would live to hear your feedback if you do use any of these resources this year.