Forget the Socks - Give the Gift of a Goat

Waheeda Harris

For many of us, the holiday season is a timely reminder of our good fortune to be able to share the joy of giving.

Instill the holiday spirit with sourcing a gift from a Canadian charity - many of which can work as an option for secret Santa, corporate gifts or for that hard to buy person on your gift list.

For this holiday season, several charities have created gift lists that can satisfy a need to help benefit families in developing countries and be sent quickly and easily with a few clicks from their websites.

Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade organization, has retail stores across Canada as well as an e-commerce site that offers up handmade crafts, home decor, jewellery, personal care items and unique art sourced from artisans from around the world. With each gift, an explanation of the artist and country is included, outlining the organization's commitment to strengthening the economies of places such as India, Tanzania, Vietnam, Swaziland and El Salvador.

For this holiday season, Ten Thousand Villages has published Fair Trade: A Human Journey, a coffee table book showcasing fair trade in glossy images by Eric St-Pierre, the perfect gift for a bibliophile or for a family.

Vision's World of Change gift catalogue includes unique craft items, and also offers a unique kind of gift card. Available in denominations from $30 to $99,999, shoppers can send a World of Change Giving card, enabling the recipient to choose what they would like to give via World Vision - whether its to sponsor a child, give mosquito nets, two hens and a rooster or clean water for a family.

Plan Canada has a similar focus with its Gifts of Hope holiday offerings; for those looking to give a practical gift consider a baby blanket ($10), mango tree ($12) a goat ($75) or a Zambulance (a covered cart attached to a bicycle to navigate dirt roads, $150). Gifts of Hope also includes a special Arts & Play Therapy in Haiti package ($25) specifically for children in Haiti to be able to express themselves with art supplies.

The David Suzuki Foundation has offered up some unique ideas for the holiday season; their Wish List includes a Critter Passport ($100) to support endangered wildlife through the Foundation's programs, a Super Sardine e-card ($25) in support of the inhabitants of the world's oceans or a Green Key ($200) which will support the Foundation's response to environmental disasters, like the BP oil spill. And for those wanting to keep coal in the ground, a Lump of Coal ($100) to remind us all to reduce our use of fossil fuels.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-22-2010 @ 8:50PM

Vanessa said...

Free the Children also does charitable Christmas gifts, both on a local and a global scale. Gifts include everything from sponsoring a North American child to attend leadership training, to purchasing school kits and livestock for families overseas. www.freethechildren.com It's a great organization - 91% of all profits go directly towards their causes (much better than a lot of non-profits out there!).