'Tis the Season
A few weeks ago, I got a call from my mom. She and dad have decided that they would like to forgo the giving of gifts this year and have money donated to charities instead and she wondered if I would mind.
I have a friend who has asked for donations to Heifer International for years in lieu of gifts so it wasn't a new idea to me and therefore said that it was fine with me.
Mom is sending a letter out to family soon with lists of charities that she and dad both like and suggesting that she would prefer money sent to those rather than gifts.
Which got me to thinking....
Hubby and I have a ridiculous amount of stuff. We are blessed with more enough for our needs and have no need for more. When we see something we like, we can afford to buy it for ourselves and we spend a good bit of time these days trying to give away the things we no longer have a need for.
Then, there is the current economic climate to consider. Buying gifts puts a huge burden on people. What to buy? How much? There is also the need to pay for the gas that goes into your car to go shopping or the shipping on goods purchased via internet or catalog. Current economics is also going to put the biggest pinch on charities. When people's disposable income decreases, charitable giving goes down.
So, with that in mind, I'm hopping on my mom's bandwagon. In the next few weeks, hubby and I will be putting links to some of our favorite charities on our flist and leaving them public posts for my friends and family to have easy access to 'what I want for Christmas'.
I know some folks are not going to be content with this. Each year, I buy my friends, D&J, bees and trees from Heifer who allow you to print off a nifty little card to send your 'gift' recipients. J has commented that very few of her family and co-workers send her these charitable gifts. I suppose some folks think that you really don't mean it, or that somehow it seems wrong.
It's nice to be remembered at the holidays and it really isn't about the gift, it's about the time that someone put into considering you and your feelings that makes it special. I have great friends and I've gotten some wonderfully touching gifts from many of them so I hope this doesn't sound ungrateful in any way. This year, I'm just hoping that folks might remember me in a little bit different of a way and I promise that if I get a card saying a donation was made to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is under my tree, I'll treasure it just as much.
I have a friend who has asked for donations to Heifer International for years in lieu of gifts so it wasn't a new idea to me and therefore said that it was fine with me.
Mom is sending a letter out to family soon with lists of charities that she and dad both like and suggesting that she would prefer money sent to those rather than gifts.
Which got me to thinking....
Hubby and I have a ridiculous amount of stuff. We are blessed with more enough for our needs and have no need for more. When we see something we like, we can afford to buy it for ourselves and we spend a good bit of time these days trying to give away the things we no longer have a need for.
Then, there is the current economic climate to consider. Buying gifts puts a huge burden on people. What to buy? How much? There is also the need to pay for the gas that goes into your car to go shopping or the shipping on goods purchased via internet or catalog. Current economics is also going to put the biggest pinch on charities. When people's disposable income decreases, charitable giving goes down.
So, with that in mind, I'm hopping on my mom's bandwagon. In the next few weeks, hubby and I will be putting links to some of our favorite charities on our flist and leaving them public posts for my friends and family to have easy access to 'what I want for Christmas'.
I know some folks are not going to be content with this. Each year, I buy my friends, D&J, bees and trees from Heifer who allow you to print off a nifty little card to send your 'gift' recipients. J has commented that very few of her family and co-workers send her these charitable gifts. I suppose some folks think that you really don't mean it, or that somehow it seems wrong.
It's nice to be remembered at the holidays and it really isn't about the gift, it's about the time that someone put into considering you and your feelings that makes it special. I have great friends and I've gotten some wonderfully touching gifts from many of them so I hope this doesn't sound ungrateful in any way. This year, I'm just hoping that folks might remember me in a little bit different of a way and I promise that if I get a card saying a donation was made to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is under my tree, I'll treasure it just as much.