Holiday shopping is probably the last thing on your mind right now, in mid-September, although some stores are already setting out their Christmas displays while temperatures linger in the 80s.
As the retailers set their sights on consumer dollars, a group of first-class charities is hoping to change the conversation about holiday spending. They’re proposing a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and they’re calling it Giving Tuesday.
Heifer International knows a little something about making holiday shopping more meaningful. Heifer receives the bulk of its contributions through its catalog of animal gifts, and many of those gifts come in the holiday season, when people are searching for a present that actually reflects their values.
The people who choose to direct their holiday dollars toward Heifer International gifts, rather than a video game system or an expensive handbag, make a huge difference to thousands of struggling families. The animals provide nutrition, yes, but more importantly they serve as a sort of small business that will be perpetuated and bring the family into self-reliance.
Giving Tuesday will be celebrated on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Nov. 27, 2012. Nonprofits like the American Red Cross, Kiva, and the UN Foundation are honoring the day as the kickoff to the season of giving.
Heifer thinks this sounds like an idea whose time has come.
Tell us in the comments box below how you plan to make your holiday shopping this year more meaningful.
Giving Tuesday is an excellent idea, so I plan to do all my holiday giving on that day! Gwen in Portland, OR
That’s great to hear, Gwen!
am josephat have orphanage project and needy of assistance for food and shelter
Hello Josephat. Can you tell me what country your orphanage project is in? This will better allow me to respond to your need for information. If you are in one of our active project countries, I can direct you to the appropriate Heifer country office. Thank you!
This is such a wonderful way to honor your family with the gift of sharing. All my sister’s and brother will get their Heifer gift this year, something that has the true meaning of Christmas attached to it.
Thanks so much for your support, Sue. If you need help picking the right Heifer gift for your siblings, I hope you’ll follow along with our What to Give blog series: http://www.heifer.org/blog/category/series/what-to-give-2012 (or subscribe here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HeiferBlogWhatToGive2012).
So many of my friends and family have been generous to me over the years and the gifts I have given them seem like trinkets that were not needed. It was about five years ago one of my sisters sent me a gift of an animal to sent to a needy woman in the third world. It was an answer to prayer as I want to give a gift that is truly needed and is given to a woman who will provide for her family with it. It has been a delight. I never get thank you for a Christmas gift as most gifts are superfluous. Now I get phone calls thanking me for a share in a pig or a goat or a flock of chicks. My friends would actually love to see a picture of their animal going to a family. The card I send them noting the donation gets passed around to their families and friends and may become a way to communicate your excellent work just as the card I received did for me.
Hi Catherine! Thanks to you and your family for supporting Heifer’s mission. As to the Honor Cards, we have a new selection here: http://honorcards.heifer.org.
Truly a tremendous and thoughtful alternative to our rampant, obscene consumerism.
I will definitely participate.
We’re happy to hear it, Barbara!