Gifts

[talon]

Now is the time to think of the gifts you'd like to give in the coming year. There are birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, housewarmings, promotions, retirements, and many other gift-giving occasions coming up.

I know the trend right now is to give a donation to some worthy charity or other in the name of the honoree, but that doesn't have to be the only gift given.

I donate a sizable portion of my income to charities and individuals. Mostly, I give in my own name because I feel it's presumptuous to give in smeone else's name unless they have specifically requested a donation to a particular charity. Donating in someone else's name just smacks of paternalism to me without their participation. I totally get behind a mini-fundraiser (Hey, it's my birthday, let's forego all the gift stuff - I have everything I need - and let's do a fundraiser for _______ instead! I have a goal of $_________, can you help me meet it?) or a request to donate to a specific organization, but for me to choose the charity and donate? That is just wrong in my eyes.

Others may feel differently, and that's OK - this is America, after all, and we have the freedom to disagree and do different things.

I don't see anyting wrong with doing both a charity donation (if the honoree suggests it) and giving a gift to the honoree, too. Why not be generous to both?

So, if you are the honoree, here's a list of charities I consider worthy of supporting and you are, of course, always welcome to support a charity not on this far-from-comprehensive list. There are hundreds of charities I've never even heard of.

You can give a pig, camel, goat couple, mother and baby farm animal, or an animal house and food through Oxfam Unwrapped. They also offer school books, health check-ups, seeds, emergency rations, clean water, soap, mosquito nets, and more.

Practical Presents lets you give fish bages, ducks, raft gardens, donkey carts, cool zeer pots, fuel efficient stoves, wind turbines, veterinary care for the animals they've been gifted, and more.

At Good Gifts, you can buy yaks, tigers, cats, treadle pumps, village libraries, medicine, bikes for midwives, solar kitchens, looms, eyeglasses, bees, training for apprentices or equipment for small businesses, and sponsor brain cells for Alzheimer's research, and more.

You can give a smile to a child with a cleft palate.

We should already all know about Heifer International.

There's Nest, to help women build small businesses.

Tree People let's you plant a tree in someone's name.

Oceana let's you adopt sea creatures (including polar bears and penguins) to help protect them.

You can help support an elephant at the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary.

You can give a charity gift card from Tis Best that lets the recipient give the card to any of 200 charities on their list, if you can't pick just one.

If you don't like Nest, there are other microloan companies like Kiva, MicroPlace, or BlueOrchard.

There are still the charities like March of Dimes and Muscular Dystrophy and the various other organ and cancer charities, too, a whole slew of htem - no links, just enter the body part you want to donate a gift to or raise funds for and you'll get what you're looking for.

For some people, giving these is like a stocking stuffer or a card insert, and that's good, too. Giving both a charity gift and then something thoughtful to the honoree is always nice.

Tailor the gift to the person. I like giving consumables for a person's hobby - a gift basket of assorted glues, paints, stains, brushes, and cleaners for example, to the modelor miniatures builder, a box or bag of gears, watch parts, metal pieces, and such to the steampunker, notebooks and pens and printing ink and reams of paper and Forever stamps to the author, sketchbooks, pencils, pastels, paints, brushes, and such to the artist, a basket of clays and finishes to the sculptor, and so on.

If you know the person well enough to give them a gift, you should know them well enough to know what consumables would suit them best.

If you don't know them well enough to know this, why are you giving them a gift?

Think about it. Are you gifting because "it's expected" or because you truly want to?

Our lives are so cluttered up with the "because it's expected" gifts - money clips, candles, candle holders, brooches, cheap stuffed animals, ornaments we'll never hang, clothes that don't fit our lifestyles or tastes or bodies, plastic figurines and doo-dads, and just dust-collector space-hogging stuff.

If you're gifting because it's expected, that's when giving a charity gift in their name or a charity gift card is acceptable in lieux of a tangible gift, or a restaurant gift card, or one of the four "C"s: Cookies, Candies, Cakes, or Cupcakes. Go sugar-free, gluten-free, and/or vegan as needed. If you have to give a generic gift, you can't go wrong with food.

Edible Arrangements is one of my favorite gifts for family, friends, or someone to whom I must give a gift because it's expected, if there's one in your area. It's a bouquet of cut fruits, some of which can be dipped in chocolate. A fruit basket or a cookie bouquet or a cheese and crackers basket also go over well.

If you're buying gifts for soldiers stationed overseas, some of these places offer free shipping, like Hickory Farms - the choices are limited for the free shipping, but the soldiers (male or female) all appreciate them.