little girl BIG VOICE

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Heifer International

As we’re all aware (unless you’re lucky enough to live on a remote desert island and have no contact with the retail world) CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! is in full swing. Target and WalMart have had their wares out since before Halloween and your Starbucks cups are a lovely shade of red. We came/saw/conquered Black Friday and are now entering “Oh My God I haven’t done any shopping and it’s two weeks until Christmas” mode.

But wait! Before you schlep back out to the mall or some mega-store, let’s take a time out and rethink the game plan. Wanna hear a secret? As much as retailers work to get you to believe it, the holidays aren’t about expensive presents (giving or receiving them). They aren’t about one-upping your neighbor with flashy decorations (As in: Do you really need that 4th blowup snow globe?).  And they aren’t about volunteering for one month out of the year because you feel like “you should”.

The holidays do involve gifts. But the best way to give a gift is to be thoughtful about it. The best way to give a gift is to give something that will touch someone or change a life. That doesn’t mean you have to go all out and change the world (though that would be fine if you feel the urge). It does mean that you should take a little time and enjoy finding something that your friend will really love. Skip the cheap lotion sets and stinky candles. They hardly ever get used and they have a giant tag on them that says, “I felt like I was supposed to get you a gift, but I’m either lazy or don’t know you well enough to do any better than this.” **

“Well that’s great Little Girl, but what the heck am I supposed to do for gifts then?!”

So glad you asked! In my humble opinion, I think you should give your friends and family a goat.

Yes, that’s right. You heard me correctly: a goat. And if you’re feeling generous…go ahead and give two!

I’ll explain.

Heifer International is a non-profit organization that provides sustainable solutions to rural poverty all over the world. The people who benefit are the ones who haven’t gotten anything good out of globalization. They’re at the bottom of the wealth totem pole and they’re stuck there. So here’s the deal: Heifer creates programming that addresses the needs of the community and sets up the opportunity for it to become self-sustainable. They do this by giving goats, or other relevant livestock/plants, to families and then providing education and training on a variety of topics (breeding, community dynamics, sustainable agriculture, health and sanitation, etc.).

What they need from you is funding. And the way they have things set up, allows a person to purchase needed livestock, etc. or donate in someone else’s name.

It’s so easy.
1.    Get online
2.    Go to www.heifer.org
3.    Buy a goat or 5 mango trees (or whatever)
4.    Print off a special card to give your friend/family member saying that you made a gift in their name.
5.    Enjoy the moment. You just gave a deserving family a lifeline AND gave a loved one a gift that goes beyond shallow material frou frou.

But maybe Heifer International isn’t you cup of tea. Maybe you want to support a different cause. Go ahead! Or perhaps you see the need to donate to a more local organization. Completely valid desire. In that case, I have to promote giving to your local food bank and making your own “I donated in your name” cards. As the economy continues to operate in dire straights, food bank donations are disastrously short, while need is skyrocketing. In my community it only costs about $5-10 to put together a food basket. Weigh it out.  What act would fit the holiday spirit better? $5-10 for crappy body wash set? Or $5-10 that will nourish a struggling family?

For me, at least, the answer is clear: Avoid useless material gifts whenever possible and donate to causes my friends/family support instead. That doesn’t mean I won’t be buying some gifts, but I’ll at least be taking a look at where I can up my giving efficiency by giving two gifts in one transaction. I absolutely urge you to do the same! We vote with our dollar and while I’m a supporter of capitalism, I only want to support products and services that inspire me. A lot of them out there are useless crap, taking up space on our shelves that could be opened up for better, higher quality things.  Yet we spend our money on said useless crap over and over again instead of on causes that feed our souls. And this little girl is no exception to the rule.

So why not give a goat for someone you love this holiday season? It’s like that story: Give a man (or a woman for that matter) a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a (wo)man to fish and she’ll eat for life. In this case, the goat comes with an instruction manual, so the family receiving the goat will not only receive daily nourishment from its milk, but will also be able to sell the extra supply and breed more goats for continued success in the community. Bada-bing bada-bam bada-boom. The holiday spirit lives once more!

And P.S. We’d love to hear any other ways you get unconventional with your gift giving. Comment below to add your ideas and creative deviations from the norm!

**Unless candles and/or lotion are loved by the receiver of the gift. Then, by all means, lotion it up! Get candles galore! But at least buy pleasantly scented ones, eh?!