The Gift of Giving

Every person or family has that one (or two) "hard to buy for" person. The type that either has everything or that you just can't figure out what to get them. And trudging around even an air-conditioned mall, let alone a hot street, now that summer finally appears to have arrived, is something that gets the blood pressure and stress levels right up in the red zone.

So here's an idea. Go to one of the numerous charity websites and make a donation or purchase something useful for someone in need on their behalf. I first stumbled on these websites when a group of us purchased a couple of chickens for an African Village as an anniversary gift for a colleague (it's a long story, but it was an appropriate gift). Then last Christmas, I received a gift of giving myself, some books for a poor school in South America. It was fantastic, so I filed the idea away for future reference, and here we are. In the leadup to Christmas and wondering what to buy. So here are a few ideas.

Oxfam: 0800 600 700 or http://www.oxfamunwrapped.org.nz/. This is probably one of the more well-known sites (probably best to stick to the reputable organisations if you want to be sure your gifts, both of them, get to where you want them to). Gifts start from $5 for packets of seeds and include goats ($47), safe water, training and baby buffalo.

Unicef: 0800 243 575 or http://www.inspiredgifts.org.nz/. $31 will immunise 100 children against polio or help their imaginations fly with storybooks from $33. Options from Unicef go from little to large ($4,485 to purchase a motorbike which will be used to deliver healthcare to remote areas).

World Vision: 0800 245 000 or http://www.giftsofhope.org.nz/. LIke many of the organisations you can choose between helping agriculture, health, education or emergency funds with your donation.

TEAR Fund: 0800 800 777 or http://www.giftforlife.co.nz/. Like Oxfam gifts start at $5. I think I might spend $10 on Live and Learn for my Secret Santa with a difference.

Fred Hollows Foundation: 0800 227 229 or http://www.giveamiracle.org.nz/. Getting closer to home, $25 will give back the gift of sight to someone.

Royal NZ Foundation for the Blind: 0800 366 283 or http://www.rnzfb.org.nz/. If you want to keep your dollars in New Zealand, what better way that to look at one of our local charities. I'm a little biased about this one, as we have regular visits from a family of guide dog breeders and puppy walkers. One of our library labs has just graduated and is off to his new owner for his first Christmas as a working dog - Good luck Leica. It costs just $20 a month to sponsor a puppy. At just less that $5 a week, maybe it is something that the whole family can do together.

Happy shopping everyone.

Image credit Kris Litman.