The holiday season is all about spending time with your family, taking time off from work, and just feeling good about life in general. For some people this is not a reality, and it is safe to say Tiny Tim is not the only person who has a difficult holiday. Everyone deserves a happy break, but this is not your typical lecture about how you should volunteer at your local soup kitchen. Here are some cool and fun ways to give back this season:
Dear Hero…
If you know someone abroad in Afghanistan or just want to show support for the troops, Dear Hero is an amazing and cost-free way to help boost soldiers’ morale this holiday season! With limited publicity funding, the majority of the letters have been sent through word-of-mouth, suggestions on Twitter, and blogging sites. Simply email your letter to dearhero2009@gmail.com, where they will be printed off and mailed to a soldier, no postage required.
Let’s Say Thanks
A program run by Xerox, Let’s Say Thanks is an initiative to provide people across the country a way boost the morale of U.S. troops stationed overseas with a personalized postcard. Soldiers will especially miss their family and friends during the holiday season, and a simple card from a caring stranger can be exactly what they need. Just go to www.letssaythanks.com, choose a postcard design, personalize your message, and hit send. The cards are then printed by Xerox and mailed in care packages by the military support program Give2TheTroops. The postcard designs were selected from a pool of drawings by children all over the country and depict patriotic and holiday scenes. Also, it is completely free!
Operation Christmas Child
In various locations across the country and worldwide, a non-profit organization known as Samaritan’s Purse sets up a gift exchange where you leave a shoe box (or more than one!) stuffed with school supplies, personal trinkets, gifts, toys, and money. The shoeboxes are then collected and distributed to children in Third World countries, so you can provide a little boy or girl with the Christmas morning they have never had. The majority of the drop-off locations closed by December 10th, but shoeboxes can be sent year round to the Boone Processing Center. Click here for instructions on how to pack the perfect shoebox! Send Shoebox to: Samaritan’s Purse 801 Bamboo Road Boone, NC 28607
New Eyes for the Needy
I have always had poor vision, and ever since kindergarten I have been wearing glasses, eye patches (for correcting a lazy eye, not for pirate fashion, and yes I have heard all the jokes), contact lenses, you name it. I cannot imagine how different my life would have been if I had not had the ability to afford corrective eye care and treatment, and it is a harsh and difficult reality for people unable to read, drive, or simply function in everyday life because of limited eye care resources. New Eyes for the Needy is a non-profit volunteer group that donates both new and recycled prescription glasses to poor people in the United States and developing nations. New Eyes accepts both plastic frame glasses in good condition and metal frame glasses in any condition. Click here for shipping instructions for your old glasses. Send Eyeglasses to: New Eyes for the Needy 549 Millburn Avenue PO Box 332 Shorthills, NJ 07078
Give Gifts that Help a Cause
LA Collection Lollipop Gloss and Nailpolish Set: Lancôme has introduced three limited edition sets of Color Fever Lip Gloss and Le Vernis Nail Lacquer in a choice of three yummy candy-inspired shades: Mademoiselle Grape, Bon Bon Strawberry, and Ma Cherie Cherry. Fifteen percent of the profits will go to the Lollipop Theater Network, a non-profit that brings movies currently in theaters to hospitalized children, like this December’s A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey. Set is $35.00.
Gap (Product)RED Elephant T-shirt: Designed by New York artist Aaron Bondaroff for Gap and a part of the (Product)RED campaign, fifty percent of the profits of the sales of this stylish shirt will go to the Global Fund to help prevent and eradicate AIDS in Africa. Shirt is $28.00. Other products involved in (Product)RED include Converse Sneakers, Apple iPod nanos, and Starbucks Gift Cards. Click here for a full list.
Sheer Sparkle Snowflake Pin: Perfect gift for mom, grandmother, or professor, this pin lights up any suit jacket for this holiday season. The Breast Cancer Site will fund 1% of a mammogram for each Snowflake Pin purchase. Click here to buy. Pin is two inches in diameter and $8.00.
TOMS Shoes: For every pair of shoes purchased from TOMS Shoes, a new pair is given to a child in need in a developing country across the world. Prices range from about $44 to $90. Learn more about how to get involved by clicking here.
Brooks Brothers Holiday Spice Candle: A warm fusion of mulled spices and zesty citrus, this candle is an excellent present for a friend or parent to help make them feel pampered and loved. Brooks Brothers will donate 50% of the purchase price to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and click here for a full list of Brooks Brothers products that will help St. Jude’s, including a cuddly teddy bear, shortbread cookies in a collectible tin, ornaments, and holiday cards decorated by children from St. Jude’s. Click here for a list of other gift ideas that support non-profit organizations! Comment with any suggestions for other non-profit organizations Her Campus readers can support this holiday season! Sources: Instyle.com Gifts that Give Back www.letssaythanks.com http://www.brooksbrothers.com/stjude/stjude.tem http://www.tomsshoes.com/Our-Movement http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2 http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/index/ http://www.neweyesfortheneedy.org/ http://www.joinred.com/Home.aspx http://www.lollipoptheater.org/