The other day at lunch I was sitting with a group of friends in Trumbull, enjoying the festive holiday decorations, complete with twinkling tea lights, miniature live poinsettias and glitter trees. We were seated in prime view of the gorgeous full sized Christmas tree and indulging in the array of holiday cookies, eggnog, and decadent pies and cakes beautifully arranged for students in honor of the season.
In the spirit of the holidays, we began discussing our lengthy and specific wish lists. That is, until Anne spoke. “Well, my mom wanted to get me this Marc Jacobs purse I said I liked, but instead I think I’m going to ask my parents to fund a surgery for a child that needs a cleft palate surgery. Did you know that for 200 dollars you can fund the entire surgery? I just think that would be so wonderful and I have enough stuff as it is,” she said in the most unassuming, non-judgmental, and conversational way.
As anyone does, I have a list of impossible-to-buy-for-she-has-everything friends and family members. Initially, I was planning on writing this article on the pros and cons, the do’s and don’ts of various holiday gifts. For instance, the merits of cologne, perfume, sweaters, jewelry, et cetera. But this lunch conversation spurred my interest and inspired me to go online and Google ‘holiday charities.’
In .2 seconds (literally) 129,000,000 results popped up. My personal favorite site, WorldVision.Org, lets you sort through a variety of different charities to donate to, such as clean water, animals, health and medicine, and education. You choose who you are donating in honor of, then the site lets you personalize a holiday card and they send it to that friend or family member to let them know you have made the donation in their name.
Rather than yet again searching the ends of the earth for something obscure, revolutionary, or completely useless, why not help someone give? After all, there is no better feeling than giving a truly meaningful gift, so why not gift someone that feeling?
When I brought up the idea the following day to my friend Anne, she was thrilled. As it turns out, her family is already ahead of the game. For Christmas every year, her Grandma lets each Grandchild choose an animal to donate to a family in need in a foreign country. This year, Anne chose to donate a cow to a family in Slovakia, and her elder brother will donate a camel to a family in Tanzania.
As it turns out, $100 really can buy happiness. But of course you do not have to donate on this scale; donations from $10 are accepted, and truly do make a difference in a life no matter what charity or foundation you choose to support.
The truth is, I’m not the biggest humanitarian on the planet. I enjoy opening a Sephora gift card, new sweater, or the newest Apple gadget as much as the next girl. I hate to be cliché here, but amidst the slew of meaningless holiday commercialism, it is easy to forget what the holidays are about. But if we ground ourselves for a moment and bring things back to the true meaning of the holiday season, we can make a real difference on lives through gifts that mean more than their designer tag or fancy gift wrap.