Shopping online? Instead of going to a product’s specific website, just type in www.GiveandShop.com. By buying through them, a percentage of the proceeds go to a charity. You can choose from a list of 10 organizations, including America’s Second Harvest, International Rescue Committee, I Have a Dream Foundation and Project Concern International.
You can also buy anything from Armani to Apple Bottoms, Baby Phat, Brookstone, Design Within Reach and Sur La Table, among myriad others, by simply shopping through www.benevolink.com. The site tracks your charitable giving, whenever you want to check.
Don’t have a clue what to give but not in the mood to travel the Gap gift certificate route? Go a few miles better and give a real act of giving. Click on www.justgive.org—put in the name of your recipient and the amount you want to spend. A gift certificate that can be redeemed online will be printed out with the amount assigned to the charity of the receiver’s choice. Young couples with big hearts can register with www.justgive.org and list their favorite charities. Voila. It’s just that simple.
An old Chinese proverb reads: “One generation plants the trees … another gets the shade.” Trees for Life couldn’t agree more. For a buck a tree, you can order fruit trees that will help nourish impoverished people. Simply log on to www.treesforlife.org and you can order 10 trees for $10 and so on. Each person who accepts a tree from Trees for Life promises to plant two more from its seeds.
Other sites to consider: www.heifer.org to give the gift of a farm animal—choose from chicks, ducks, geese and cows to water buffalo and llamas—to a person in need, anywhere from Appalachia to Africa.
Designer Jonathan Adler sources all of his fabrics through Aid to Artisans, www.aidtoartisans.org, which has its own online shop that offers everything from sequined bottles from Haiti to lead-free Mexican teapots.
Alternative Gifts International, at www.altgifts.org, offers a full catalog of projects. The specificity of the offerings—wheelchairs in Cambodia, cell phones for health workers in Ghana—brings home the fact that there is no consumer good in existence that’s more satisfying than doing good.
Women for Women International provides job training and education in war-torn countries like Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan and operates an online boutique at www.womenforwomen.org that stocks textiles made by the women you are helping.
Host your next dinner through www.epicurious.com’s “Wine. Dine. Donate.” The proceeds benefit America’s Second Harvest, which annually provides emergency food assistance to more than 25 million Americans.
Philosophy, www.philosophy.com, the maker of luscious cosmetics packaged in simple but poetic packages, makes a practice of giving to charity. Keep your conscience clean by giving Shower for the Cure and Believe in Miracles shampoos, which benefit the Women’s Cancer Research Fund and Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, respectively.
The Handbag of Hope, designed by a teen ambassador from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and named for late “wish kid” Hope Stout is at Claire’s Stores, www.claires.com; 10 percent goes to Make-A-Wish, www.wish.org.
Extend creature comforts to your own pet as well as less fortunate animals with a pet bed or toy sewn by volunteers at St. Louis’ Cat Network, www.catnetwork.com—all money supports their no-kill shelter. Any dog lover on your list will melt while reading The Man Who Talks to Dogs, Melinda Roth’s book on Stray Rescue founder Randy Grim; 100 percent of the cover price goes back to Stray Rescue (www.strayrescue.com).
And remember, compassion is taught: teach your kids that it’s more blessed to give than to receive by donating to a local toy drive; Secret Santa (www.secretsanta.org) can help you find one.
