<p>My daughter is thinking of giving some family members charitable gifts instead of unneeded presents. She’s been looking at Oxfam [Oxfam</a> International](<a href=“http://www.oxfam.org/]Oxfam”>http://www.oxfam.org/) and that reminded me of the Hunger Site - [Click</a> to Give @ The Hunger Site](<a href=“The Hunger Site | Help Fight Worldwide Hunger”>The Hunger Site | Help Fight Worldwide Hunger) We gave her a gift certificate to that site for a birthday a couple of years ago and she really liked it. One can give a child food for a year and buy a free trade item at the same time. </p>
<p>As a funny aside, I told my daughter that it might be better to suggest to her relatives to give HER charitable gifts instead of her giving them to the Grandparents and assuming they feel the same way. </p>
<p>Climate Healers [url=<a href=“http://climatehealers.org/home.html]home[/url”>http://climatehealers.org/home.html]home[/url</a>] looks intriguing. I heard a presentation by the founder, and was wowed. The idea is to have climate “patrons” who live in wealthy countries pay climate “stewards” to watch over resources that sequester carbon emissions. For example, a rural village in India that lives off-grid and produces most of its carbon emissions from burning wood for cooking and kerosene oil for lighting. Each villager receives a solar-powered cooker, an LED flashlight that charges off of the cooker setup, and a cell phone that also charges from the cooker. The village also has to keep their livestock from grazing in certain areas, and from harvesting wood there. This is all paid for by contributions from patrons, who are essentially paying for someone else to do the work necessary to sequester their carbon emissions. Pricey for a student to give to someone. Perhaps not as pricey to receive from grandparents.</p>
<p>When you choose the charitable organization and you get the tax write off for your donation, do you still consider it a gift for your family member or friend?</p>
<p>You can foster a baby orphaned elephant in Kenya for one year for $50: [Adopt</a> an Elephant Orphan - Foster an Elephant or Rhino Orphan](<a href=“Orphans / Adopt an Orphan”>Orphans / Adopt an Orphan). </p>
<p>You get emails with pictures, long updates, and the ability to look at the carer’s daily journal. The baby elephants’ parents have usually been killed for the ivory trade. The human keepers act as the baby elephants’ families until the elephant is ready to be independent (the length of time depends on the personality if each elephant). More than sixty orphaned elephants have been saved. The animals have 8,000 square miles of space. They work with rhino orphans as well. It is a wonderful and effective program that some friends of mine have seen in first person.</p>
<p>You can buy a Good Card and give it to friends and family; they in turn can pick the charity of their choice to give to. It really sounds like a great idea for gifts this season. I like the idea of the recipient being able to choose the organization that is receiving money in their name.</p>
<p>You can do a December 2008 stocking Stuffer or a all year 200p sponsorship and get an 8x10 photo and certificate to give to the recipient. My friend is buying her boys a month of snakes :D</p>
<p>“a month of snakes” - S2 would love it! But I suffer from ophidophobia, and would not want to be confronted with monthly snake photos! </p>
<p>This is a great thread, kathiep. Some relatives have been asking for present suggestions for my husband and me. I will suggest a few of these charities.</p>
<p>Yes, I do. We choose, but we are choosing for people who we know approve of our choices and won’t feel “cheated” that they didn’t get something more traditional. The tax write off aspect is like getting something on sale. Either we can afford to be more generous by “buying” more of a donation, or we can save some $$$.</p>
<p>My D just spent a few weeks in the rainforest in Ecuador, and has asked for donations to preserve it instead of gifts (lives in a tiny, shared apartment and does not like “stuff.”) She recommended the Rainforest Action Network. I surely don’t mind the tax write-off; she still gets to support her cause.</p>
<p>I think giving someone cash and stating that it is for them to give to the charity of their choice is a gift for them. They then reap the benefits of choosing the charity and the tax deduction, and can augment your gift with a gift of their own to compensate for the tax deduction. If you opt not to give them cash because you don’t think they would give the money to charity, then your giving money to a charity in their name is not really a gift for them.</p>
<p>Every Christmas, I buy at least 2 gift sponsorships for Mylestone.org, which is an equine rescue organization. The woman who started it bought her farm and operates it 24/7 with her husband and some volunteers. She is an amazing person! They have rescued horses and ponies from all sorts of horrific environments. The people I give the gift sponsorships to are horse people and appreciate the cause. One goes to my boss (I work on a horse farm). The other goes to the family that boards their horse with me.</p>
<p>NYmom, I read it to be one photo for the month or year, not one every month, so perhaps less painful to face- and if you go visit, they may even let you hold your snake :eek: well, maybe not YOU, maybe your son</p>
<p>The woman who started this exotic animal preserve actually began with the animals from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch:</p>
<p>Partners in Health is a wonderful, and worthy, organization. We’ve been supporters ever since we read Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains about the tireless efforts of Dr. Paul Farmer. The book would be a great Christmas gift for anyone on your list! </p>
<p>A group that my parents have been involved with for many years, volunteering and raising funds. Lollypop Farm does a lot of excellent work in the Rochester area.</p>
<p>These are the organizations that we support every year at this time. In addition, we ‘adopt’ a family from a local community centre organization and buy gifts and food to give them a nice holiday season. We also donate to a bursary program set up by the police division in the ‘neediest’ neighborhood of our city. The funds go to students who have overcome some incredible obstacles in their lives - poverty, disfunctional families, crime, etc. - to graduate from high school with the ability to go on to college. It has grown year by year, with 20 students getting bursaries this past summer to help them begin college in September. My Ds have chosen a new charity this year that they are all contributing their time and efforts (and purchases) to - they make up baskets for womens who have been victims of domestic abuse, and who are leaving shelters to start their lives anew. The baskets contain items to help them get started. There are many deserving groups out there who need donations. The difficulty comes with trying to narrow it down and make the choices. Or there’s always The Human Fund. Seinfeld fans will understand.</p>
<p>[The</a> Smile Train](<a href=“http://www.smiletrain.org/]The”>http://www.smiletrain.org/) is another good one. They buy cleft lip and palate surgeries for children in developing countries. It’s $250 for a complete surgery. It’s not solely cosmetic, either; these kids often have physical trouble talking and eating and may face obstacles going to school or finding employment.</p>
Seinfeld fans will understand.</p>