Gifts that Give Back

This season consider giving a gift that contributes to making life better.  Giving gifts that give back to non-profit organizations is a way that you can begin to live a more sustainable life and encourage others to participate too.  Here are some ideas to get you going!

Supporting the Troops:

Raising money in style is easy to do with these fabulous PeaceTags. This is my favorite gift choice of the season, and for that matter any time of the year.  Choose the quote that inspires you, buy more than one and layer them.  Package the PeaceTags in a kraft colored box with a yellow ribbon and you will be sure to impress!

Shopping List:

Peacetags (peacetags.com)

100% of net proceeds are donated to two charities that support the troops and their families.

$100

Providing Shelter:

This is an adorable way to package a donation to Habitat for Humanity, or any other non-profit that supports housing or safe homes.  Purchase one of these cute little house banks; tie it with a ribbon and a note stating that you have made a donation in their name.

Shopping List:

Habitat for Humanity (habitat.org)

Donate any amount. 

Packaged in a Domus house bank, $10.00, from Tottini (South Lake Union, 259 Yale Ave. N.; 206.254.0400; tottini.com)

Feeding the Less Fortunate:

Yes, you can purchase a pig for someone that you love without the smell or maintenance.  One sow can produce 20 piglets a year. In six months, each piglet can grow up to 200 pounds. This weighty venture can boost the income of a family while providing beneficial protein for undernourished girls and boys. Package your gift by nestling a piggy bank in a crate with wood shavings.  Tie a prize-winning ribbon around the pig’s ear with a description of the gift attached.

Shopping List:

Purchase a pig for $50 for World Concern (worldconcern.org)

Packaged with a Ceramic polka-dot piggy bank $26, from Tottini (South Lake Union, 259 Yale Ave. N.; 206.254.0400; tottini.com).  Half crate, $6.49, from Michaels (15600 NE 8^th St.; 425-747-1221; Michaels.com)

Hurricane Katrina Relief:

The families that were devastated in Hurricane Katrina still need your help.  This year Absolut Vodka has released a limited edition Vodka with 100% of the net profits going to relief efforts for the Gulf Coast.  Package it with the “Higher Ground: Hurricane Katrina Relief Benefit Concert”  CD where again 100% of the net profits benefit the Gulf Coast as well.

Shopping List:

Limited Edition Absolut Vodka (absolut.com)

Absolut New Orleans Vodka, $25, from Washington State Liquor Store #77 515

1st Ave. N; 206.298.4616)

“Higher Ground: Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert,” $17.99; Easy Street Records on Queen Anne (20 W. Mercer St.; 206.691.3279; buymusichere.net)

Dressing for Success:

Everyone deserves to feel confident when they walk in to an interview, and giving the gift of assisting in that process is not only giving the gift of confidence but it also gives the gift of employment.  Package your donation with a fashionable ornament that will don the receiver’s tree for years, or attach a note to luxurious padded hangers that they can add to their closet and be reminded of your gift on a daily basis.

A donation of $10 can provide a woman with their first dress for success experience, which includes an interview suit, a one-on-one session with a personal shopper and access to the Dress for Success Career Center.

Shopping list:

Dress for success – (changingthepresent.org)

Ornment dress form, $6.99, from Michaels, (15600 NE 8^th St.; 425.747.1221; Michaels.com)

Padded satin hanger, $9.99, from Michaels

Starting a Business:

Kiva – Loans that Change Lives (kiva.org)

Donate to help this non-profit continue to make dreams come true.

This site allows people to have a very personal experience by selecting an individual to support in their quest to start their own business in a third world country. Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.

Package this gift by printing out information on the business that you are supporting in the receivers name with a miniature globe that is a bank too!

Shopping List:

Kava (kiva.org)

Antique Tin Globe Bank, $32.00, from Antika Antiques (8421 Greenwood Ave.

N.; 206.789.6393; antikaantiques.com)

Supporting the Environment:

For the person that loves wine, this is the ideal gift.  Chris Sparkman, at Sparkman Cellars, has released a wine that not only tastes amazing but also benefits environmental research. 

Shopping List:

Wilderness Wine (sparkmancellars.com)

Fighting Cancer:

If you know someone that has battled Cancer, or has supported someone through that process this is a thoughtful gift to honor him or her.  Glassybaby is a local company that creates these beautifully hand blown votives.  They come in amazing colors; True White was designed with giving back to support those with Cancer and to fight the disease as well.  Proceeds from the True White Glassybaby will go to support Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (www.seattlecca.com)

Shopping List:

True White Glassybaby, $39, from Glassybaby (3406 E. Union St.; 206.568.7368; glassybaby.com)

Holidate with the Girls at University Village, December 4th:

Women are invited to grab their girlfriends and head to University Village for toasting and shopping!  For $25, you and your girlfriends can mingle, have a cocktail, and rummage through a fabulous swag bag before you hit the stores with a 20% discount card for participating shops throughout University Village.  The best part is that $20 of the $25 admission fee supports one of my favorite charities, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington!  The shopping discounts are good through December 6th, so if you can’t get all of your shopping done because you are having too much fun with the girls you’ll still have time.  To register go to www.uvillage.com/giftcerts/holidate.asp.