Whether you are making a donation in your name or someone else’s, here are three charities worth considering.
Support innovative humanitarian programs by sending a Mercy Kit to someone in need. That could be a school supplies kit, a women’s small business kit, or a family garden kit. There are 20 kits to chose from with prices from $18 to $500, though most are well below $100. MercyCorps spends less than 10 percent of its funds on administration, according to JustGive.org. Give now.
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One of my favorite ways to help my community is to support my local food pantry. Everyone needs to eat. Nuff said. Feeding America has a database of local food pantries so you can find one near you.
The World Vision Catalog is similar to Heifer International in that you don’t just write a check. You get to pick out animals to give to poor people abroad to help them improve their lives in the long run. A goat and two chickens that will produce eggs and milk that a family can eat and sell costs $100. Five ducks and two chickens costs $55, a dairy cow costs $500. World Vision spends just 5 percent of its funds on administration, according to the charity evaluator JustGive.org. Give now.
If you want to go lower: donate your time to a charity in need.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
LOVE that you included this! I always have my Christmas Tea guests bring bags of canned food (it’s their “ticket” in to the house) for our local food pantry, and then my kids and I deliver it and help re-stock the shelves. It’s a great way to make a difference!
November 18th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Thank you for your very kind words about Heifer International in your blog. We are always touched and humbled when we read testaments such as yours to the work that generous donors and supporters make possible. I am delighted, too, that you received and are enjoying the catalog. Though we have been doing it for many years, it remains a highlight for staff, too, as each of us flip through the pages rereading the powerful stories of the lives that have been changed by the simple gift of a cow or goat.
Thank you again and best wishes for a safe and wonderful holiday season for you, your family and friends.
Joedy
November 18th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Thank you for posting this! My name is Brian and I work at World Vision on the Gift Catalog. We’ve created a special site for the catalog on facebook this year, http://www.facebook.com/TrueSpiritOfChristmas. We have a small team that is traveling the globe this holiday season and will be posting live updates on how every gift, big and small, can change a child’s life. Thank you again for your support, – Brian
December 14th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
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