We’ve all got people on our list tentatively marked down for a “gift certificate” as we have no clue what to get. Why not get them something that will help someone else instead?
There are lots of worthwhile organization fighting to make the world a better place and most all of them sell tee-shirts, mugs, etc. Which of these organizations do you think, A) Are engaged in the most important work at the moment, B) Are the most in need of support and C) Have the coolest looking stuff?
Of course, we must exclude the SD from this as it would clearly be everyone’s first choice.
My choice would have to be RAWA. RAWA is a group of Afgan women that ought to be dear to every Doper’s heart. From their website:
** “Our concept of government in Afghanistan is very simple: It should be based on democratic values and it should ensure freedom of thought, religion and political expression while safeguarding women’s rights. . . . RAWA firmly believes that only a government with secular orientation can thwart the nefarious designs of these reactionaries from the Dark Ages.” **
You go, girl!
Note: One of things that RAWA does is to sneak into Afganistan to document what’s going on, especially violence involving women and children. The RAWA website, therefore, contains some pretty graphic material. RAWA Website
Their best gift, IMHO, is this tee-shirt. RAWA tee-shirt
So there’s my choice. Let’s hear some others, I’ve got a long list.
I think this is actually a pretty good idea for some people, but it depends on the person concerned. If they are not too socially conscious, they prolly would not appreciate something which was beneficial to someone else.
But, that aside, I think this is a great idea. I wish I had thought of it. You could adopt an animal for someone who loves a)any animals b)that particular type of animal. Other things like tee shirts etc from organisations which support something close to someone’s heart are a great idea.
The Humane Society has some real cute tee shirts this year.
The last couple of years I’ve donated to Heifer Project International (www.heifer.org), which provides livestock animals to needy people around the world so they can achieve financial independence. I send the honor card to my niece and nephew, and they’ve never mentioned it, i.e. never thanked me. This year my husband and I are donating again (1/3 of a rabbit), but not sending the honor card. The past few years I’ve donated chicks, ducklings, and bees.
As per the OP, the idea is to do this for people you really don’t know what to get. One of the best things about this is that even if the other person doesn’t completely appreciate it, gifts like this don’t go to waste. Hell, even if the gift gets stolen in the mail, it doesn’t go to waste. Your ungrateful, spoiled-rotten niece and nephew might not have appreciated your gift, but you know that somebody did!
My vote would have to be battery cables. Just seeing a pair of them in the trunk makes the statement that you know what you’re talking about. You could give advice on pouring concrete as long as everyone sees the cables first.
You can use battery cables for:
Towing furniture
Opening a beer bottle
Wedging a door
Mountain climbing
And Charging A Car!
Battery cables. They’re just not for autos anymore.
[offtopic]
Ah, the holiday spirit! It’s going to be really embarrassing if spoofe’s “wet or dry” thread ends up with ten times as many page views as this one!
[/offtopic]
Bah, humbug!
Wait a minute, let me rephrase that…
Quality, m’dear, quality is its own reward. There’ve actually been some pretty funny discussions about inserting (snork, snork) wholly misleading sexual nibbles in the thread titles just to pump up the views/responses. (The consensus? the practice is discouraged.)
Anyway, this thread spun off some great ideas for a few “hard to shop for” folks remaining on my list.
In the past, my wife and I have done some “detective” work at times to find out what, if any, charities or causes friends or relatives believe in, feel strongly about, etc… For example one family has a son with NF or Neurofibromatosis. We made a donation in their name for NF research. A gift need not be monetary or a physical item. If someone is very conscious about feeding the homeless, donate your time to a shelter for one day/afternoon. MS, NF, AIDS, shelters, nursing homes, BB/BS etc… Lots of options, just think about issues they have talked about or start a conversation about these types of things an see where they go with it.
I just noticed that, due to a typographical error, there is a mistake in the title of this thread. The thread was supposed to be called, “Cleavage Masturbation: How often?” Thanks in advance for fixing this!
I always thought that donateing something in someone else’s name as a gift was pretty tacky.
First off, it implies that the receiver doesn’t give enough as-is. It is a vague rebuke. Certainly not fit for a present. Also, The selection of charities, even with the best intentions, still ends up being a pretty personal decision. I mean, you would probably donate money to the Red Cross in the name of someone else, but would you donate to Fred Phelps for your right-wing friend? Even the best intentioned donations have the kind of nasty political implications that are best to avoid.
But I think the most annoying thing is that it smacks (hard) of self-rightousness. Not only are you so rightous that you donate to charity- but you do it in the name of others as well. Unfortunatly the receiver of this “gift” does not get the warm fuzzies (or smug satisfaction), the social commendation, or any of the fringe benefits of having donated. In fact, you get all of those- and the reciever has to thank you for it! That is a selfish gift if I’ve ever seen one. If you want to donate your time and money, but all means I congradulate you and encourage you, but don’t pretend like your doing your family and friends favors.
I do like the idea of giving an item that also happens to donate to charity. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it though. Even better are christmas cards that benefit a charity. I’d like to see that become a tradition. I’d also like to see volunteer work in general become a holiday tradition. But please don’t send someone a card saying “I’m so rightous that I decieded to be rightous for you, too”. It’s tacky and rude.
I take your point. The idea wasn’t so much to make a charitable donation in someone’s name, it was to get an actual gift for someone from an organization that would do some good in the world (Hence criteria C) in the orginial post.
I agree, of course, that you shouldn’t ever get a gift that you know is going to infuriate the recipient so that lets out some of the more controversial organizations. That’s one of the reasons I like RAWA. Everyone from radical lesbians to hardcore conservatives can support what they stand for. Hopefully, if you have to get a gift for someone, you’ll have an idea if he or she has some very radical likes or dislikes!
On that note . . .
Politzania
Excellent suggestion! The bay leaf wreath is ideal. It benefits a worthy cause and is actually something useful that people might like to have.
Actually, rather than getting “cool stuff” from a charity, give the charity the cash, and have the tax receipt made out in the name of the person you want to give something to – most of us have enough T-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains, etc. Put the receipt in a UNICEF Christmas card.
Charities to pick from that are acceptable to most (although, inevitably, someone will have objections to one or the other):
Local SPCA or Humane Society
Local Food Bank
Cancer Society
Heart Society
Red Cross
Oxfam
Unitarian Service Committee
CARE
Greenpeace
Amnesty International
You can make it slightly more personal by donating to a group you know the intended recipient already supports.
Also, a lot of groups sell calendars as fund raisers… 'tis the time to think of getting new calendars, why not have the profit from the calendar go somewhere useful?
