Sunday, December 02, 2007

Alternative Gift Giving

For the past two Sundays my church has been holding its annual Alternative Gift market. What this does is provide our members with the chance to help out others in a global way. You can pick your charity or country of need and write a check which will be used to help individuals or communities in need. Of course you can do this giving either in your own name or in the name of a friend.

When I looked at the catalog I noticed that the offerings were broad in nature and in price. This assures me that even a small gift will be helpful to someone in a life changing way. So, in the interest of helping this organization out I thought I'd post a link to their website. From there you can either do a contribution or find other ways of helping. The site goes a long way in making one aware of all the many areas that are in need and connects with some really effective charitable organizations. The image is the cover of their 2007-2008 catalog.

So, if you are interested in making the world a better place this Christmas, or for any other occasion or reason please go to Alternative Gifts International.

Peace, Hope, and Joy this holiday season!

10 comments:

San said...

Happy Sunday, Lee!

I have a beautiful set of batik placemats from Begoro Maid in Ghana. They have this amazing pattern of inky indigo splashed against cranberry. They look a little like Rorschach ink blots. Got them at the Alternative Gift Market at the United Church of Santa Fe.

Your post reminded me to take them out of hiding. I like to display them during this time of the year. Very festive.

Lee said...

Happy Sunday back, San!

I'm so glad you have those. I got a friend a gift from another country once. He liked his too...they were owl carvings from gourds.

Good deal! Your place mats do sound festive. Any chance you can take pictures of them or your Christmas decorations and post them? Does your gallery do anything special for the holidays?

Peace!

San said...

Lee,

I'll probably get around to posting something "Christmasy" this month.

A few years ago at the gallery we hosted a benefit show called "Four for the Journey." We had a reception for four artists. The kids and I made a bunch of cookies and decorated them. Lots of people came and a percentage of gallery sales that weekend went to the charity Bread for the Journey. It wasn't hugely successful in terms of dollars--December is not a banner month in downtown Santa Fe--but everyone had a good time. One woman who was at the reception told me the next day, "I left your gallery walking on air." I guess anytime you can boost the "walking on air" quotient, you've done some good anyway.

Lee said...

Wow, San! That sounds like tons of fun and a really nice thing to do as part of the community. Hope you get the chance to do it again sometime.

Peace!

orneryswife said...

Neat post. I like to give to Heifer International, and have done so in the past as a Christmas gift in honor or the mother in law who has everything.

Thanks for visiting Miller Manor. Hope you come back to visit sometimes!
TM

Lee said...

Hi TM,

Thanks for the return visit! I've heard of Heifer International. They do good work too.

At the moment I'm still exploring your place. The tag ADHD caught my eye. I'm ADD and having been diagnosed and medicated late in life for this it has provided me with some interesting insights to my life's earlier challenges.

Peace!

david mcmahon said...

What a great idea, Lee. Thanks for giving us the link.

Lee said...

You're welcome, David. It made me think globally. Hope it does the same for others.

Peace!

Sandi McBride said...

Thanks for sending me this, Lee.
Sandi

Lee said...

You're welcome, Sandi. Hope you find something you want to do.

Hugs!
Lee