Out of time and ideas?

It’s less than 3 days to Christmas! How many of you are panicking about now? I know I am. Inexplicably, I seem to have a lot of gifts for my son, but next to nothing for anyone else. That took me by surprise, because usually I don’t know what to get him!

Here’s a good, last-minute idea: give to a charity in someone’s name. We do this a lot in our family, and everyone ends up feeling good about it. For example, one time recently Laura gave John a goat. Luckily we didn’t wake up to a goat tied up in the backyard! She gave it to a needy family as a gift to him. It was great because goats are great! (For some reason, John’s into goats and pigs. Must be the latent farmer in him.)

The key to giving to a charity instead of your loved ones, and expecting them to feel happy about it, is to give to a charity that is meaningful to them rather than yourself. That may sound obvious, but it’s not necessarily easy to do. How many of us have families who all agree on politics and religion?

So to give a meaningful gift to charity – and have it actually be appreciated by your family member – you may have to give to a charity you wouldn’t otherwise support.

One favorite charity in our family is http://www.kiva.org/. We like that one for a couple of reasons. First of all, your friend or family member actually gets to choose which micro-loan they want to support, so they are more than just a recipient, they get to be part of the giving process. Secondly, it is a micro-loan instead of a grant, so when the loan is paid off, it can be given all over again. So it becomes an ongoing contribution rather than a one-time gift, and it’s a fun thing to do. That can be done here, https://www.kiva.org/gifts.

Another charity I’d like to plug this season is https://www.lalmba.org/donate/. My friend, Stephanie, is a doctor who is spending a year volunteering in Africa. Lalmba is the organization she is working with. Here’s more information on her blog,  https://oneyearinkenya.blog/2017/12/12/giving/.

And thirdly, I just read a very interesting, in-depth article about Ophelia Dahl, who is the daughter of the famous author, Roald Dahl. She has dedicated her whole life to helping the poor with health care. Here is the article, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/18/ophelia-dahls-national-health-service. And here is the charity that she founded, https://www.pih.org/.

Partners in Health sounds like it is an excellent charity. In addition to getting top scores from “Charity Navigator”, I also like their philosophy. When they enter an area to provide health care, they are very holistic and practical (such as working to ensure there is safe drinking water as well as providing medical services). And they commit to an area for a long time, so they can make a lasting difference.

Happy giving!