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Maybe consider family charitable contribution instead of stocking stuffers this year?

By Deirdre Silberman

Few of us have been left unscathed by the economic meltdown all around us. The losses and uncertainty have touched us all, and even if we are fortunate enough to be stable, we all know neighbors, friends, and family whose lives have been affected severely.

While the retail sector will see the worse holiday in recent memory, there is a common silver lining that I see more and more. People are considering family charitable contributions instead of person to person gifts. Many of our friends are rejecting stocking stuffers and ‘things’ that are really not needed, and are creating pacts with their friends to not exchange grown up gifts, and instead just give to children. A family tradition we have enjoyed for years is to sit around the computer and make a donation, as a family. One year we bought a cow for a village in Africa, another we bought goats and chickens. We see this more and more with our friends.

Perhaps seeing our own vulnerabilities helps us empathize with others. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly share my 9 year old son’s desire for stuff (video games for him, shoes for me).  it’s just that in these tough times we have the choice to either feel sorry for ourselves and our losses, or find gratitude for all that we do have.

I bet you will find relief from your friends, if you suggest that instead of giving you a gift, they buy chicks for a tribe in Africa. You do the same. it will cost less, do more, and make you feel a lot better than another ‘thing’. I won’t even mention how green this is.

Here are a few sites you can consider and suggest for your friends:

www.Heifer.org
www.Habitat.org
www.charity-charities.org/charities/NJ.html
www.njshares.org/aboutNJShares/press/101403.asp
www.njcares.org/resources.htm
www.Wish.org
TheWomensAlliance.org
njshares.org
www.secondharvest.org/
mcifp.org/
www.foodbanknyc.org/

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 7:54 am and is filed under Too Cool for Category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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