Kathleen Gardenswartz
Choose
to give with intent this holiday. It means more than just giving a
gift; it offers you an opportunity to share the manifestation of your
deepest values and in doing so, change the lives of people around the
world.
Patagonia
You
have to love a company that uses the biggest online shopping day
to-date to promote buying less and reflecting more on the kind of
world we want to leave our children.
Patagonia’s
Common
Threads Initiative
Partners
in the Common Threads Initiative pledge to reduce excess consumption
and give the planet's vital systems a rest from pollution, resource
depletion and greenhouse gases.
Patagonia’s
initiative asks
not for money but for a pledge to reduce, to not buy what we don't
need, to repair what we already have and to fix what still has life
in it. By reusing and sharing we can leave recycling to the very end
of the equation. Products that have been purchased from Patagonia and
are worn-out can be returned to them. Patagonia takes all the
recycled products, repurposes them or creates new fabric.
In
the last 6 years Patagonia has recycled 45 tons of clothes to create
34 tons of new clothes.
FEED
Projects
FEED
Projects is committed to the belief that everyone has the right to
basic human necessities, including healthy food. The sale of their
FEEDbags, bears, t-shirts, and other accessories come with a built-in
donation. Each purchase, signified by a stenciled number, is a
tangible and meaningful realization of their core mission to help
feed the world.
GlobalGiving
The
world is full of problems and thankfully GlobalGiving is full of
solutions. Their global solutions run by innovative, grassroots
projects and organizations are working to educate children, feed the
hungry, build houses, train people with job skills, and hundreds of
other world changing projects.
GlobalGiving
is a charity fundraising web site that gives entrepreneurs and
non-profits from all over the world a chance to raise the money they
need to improve their communities.
Since
2002, GlobalGiving has raised $54,569,863 from 236,358 donors who
have supported 4,993 projects.
The
Girl Effect
There
are 600 million adolescent girls living in poverty in the developing
world. By giving one of these girls a chance, you start the girl
effect. When girls have safe places to meet, education, legal
protection, health care, and access to training and job skills, they
can thrive. And if they thrive, everyone around them thrives, too.
Donations
to the Girl Effect Fund are managed by the GlobalGiving Foundation
and distributed equally among twelve innovative, girl-focused
projects.
American
Red Cross
Holiday Giving Catalog
The American Red Cross 2011 Holiday Giving Catalog offers people a chance
to give a gift that means something and helps people in need. They
believe that in this season of hope people want their gifts to really
matter. Research shows that many people would prefer to receive a
meaningful gift that would help someone else instead of a traditional
holiday gift. American Red Cross feels that this gift catalog fills
that need.
Global
Goods Partners
Buy
fair trade gifts to support women artisans in Asia, Africa and the
Americas. Many of these products provide the only means of
revenue for artisans and others in their communities. Global Goods
Partners are a non-profit and the proceeds from all product sales go
toward supporting these struggling artisans and their communities.
Save
the Children
When
disaster strikes around the world, Save the Children is there to save
lives with food, medical care and education and remains to help
communities rebuild through long-term recovery programs. As quickly
and as effectively as Save the Children responds to tsunamis and
civil conflict, it works to resolve the ongoing struggles children
face every day — poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease — and
replaces them with hope for the future.
Save
the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting
change in the lives of children in need in the United States and
around the world. Recognized for their commitment to accountability,
innovation and collaboration, their work takes them into the heart of
communities, where they help children and families help themselves.
