What a great idea! :)
For the past couple of years, I've been buying presents for friends & family from
The Hunger Site and its affiliates (
The Breast Cancer Site,
Child Health Site,
Literacy Site,
Rainforest Site, &
Animal Rescue Site), and I would recommend it to anyone who's looking to "give back" a little. The
online store has all kinds of neat gifts that you can buy - artwork, jewelry, clothing, accessories, games, coffee/tea, and other cool stuff from around the world - and with each purchase you are helping to donate food, preserve habitats, provide medical care, etc.
Or, if you don't feel the need to give a physical present to somebody:
- The
"Gifts That Give More" section (on The Hunger Site, or any of its affiliates) has options for charitable donations in just about any form you can think of - clean water for villages, vaccinations for schoolchildren, aid for victims of natural disasters, food & shelter for rescued animals...the list goes on and on. :)
- Similar concept at
Oxfam America Unwrapped - help others in need around the world.
- Several members of my extended family have opted for the
Heifer International project in the past; in fact, I'm pretty sure the first time I heard of this whole concept was when we got a card from Heifer International one Christmas saying that my aunt and uncle had donated a share of sheep in our name! :) Very cool.
Anyway, those are just a few of the ones I'm familiar with - thanks for starting this thread, Maraya! :) I'll definitely bookmark it for future reference.