It's that time again, time to start thinking about what to get everyone for Christmas and make your own wish list. Now, I love Christmas! Love the whole month of December with the smell of the Christmas tree, the decorations, the music, the yummy food, the family, etc. But buying Christmas presents can be stressful and let's face it, do we really need more stuff? My kids certainly don't, they have enough junk, and I have more things than I need. I think this year I want to allocate some of my gift purchasing funds to help those who actually are in need. I would like to sit my children down and explain to them that there are many people in the world who have so little and have them choose a cause to donate too in place of a present for themselves. (Don't worry, I will get my kids something for Christamas, just not as much as previous years.) And in place of a gift exchange with the adults in our extended family I would like to recommend the same thing. (If everyone doesn't want to do it, just be aware if I happen to draw your name you may be getting some chicks sent to someone in Africa from me.) Here's some ideas of some great organizations you could consider donating to this year.
Heifer International - Help individuals and communities become self-sufficient by providing animals and agriculture and training.
Kiva - Person-to-person micro-lending program.
United Way - Happens to be the charity the LDS church here supports.
Red Cross
The LDS church has several great projects to donate to such as:
Humanitarian Services - You can donate to the general fund or pick a specific project such as clean water or wheelchairs.
Perpetual Education Fund - Loans for education and technical training.
Don't want to donate to one of these organizations? Choose a cause you're passionate about and give them a Christmas present this year.
2 comments:
My sister always gets us gifts for Heifer--it's fun to 'get' part of a cow for your birthday :)
Before we had kids we decided that we would just get them three gifts for Christmas/birthdays--a toy, a book, and something to wear. We've been a bit flexible with it, but it's generally worked out well. Gift shopping is much less stressful for me, and I've been grateful that we decided that because they often have family that give them things as well. Growing up my grandparents had 33 grandchildren, so they didn't get us presents, but my parents only have 3 right now so things are different. This year I think I do want to find some sort of giving opportunity for them, because even though we've been good at being minimalistic for Christmas we still haven't done as much about service like I would like to.
What a great idea! I love Christmas too, after all I do have a Noelle:)
Post a Comment