Some Christmas Alternatives
It’s less than 3 months until Christmas - a time of gift giving and cheer. So far this month, we’ve talked about some of the struggles we have with giving gifts. That can’t be the end of the story. So what are some alternative ways of giving that allow us to make sure the presents are appropriate, needed and bring dignity to the intended communities?
Here’s 4 ideas:
Instead of sending a package around the world, send one closer to home.
We all like to feel like we have done something tangible to make a difference, and gift giving is often a way to teach our kids how to be kind and generous to others. But often the presents sent are not culturally appropriate or undermine a parents role. A question I often get asked is if filling a package to send overseas is problematic, what’s an alternative?
Backpacks for SA Kids is an SA charity that makes backpacks for kids entering foster care or emergency shelters so that they have something to call their own in the initial change of transition. On their website is an age specific list of things to include in their backpacks. They also have home starter pack ideas for victims of domestic violence and Anchor packs for teens experiencing homelessness.
Other domestic violence services and refugee services also have similar programs that you could take part in.
This still gives us something practical to do with the kids but it is culturally appropriate, it targets a vulnerable group of people who need support and it doesn’t require 1000s of air-miles.
Instead of leaving a present under a tree, enable a parent to give their kids a present.
I have to admit, I haven’t found an Australian version of this model of charity yet, but each year Together Rising runs a project called Holiday hands. The concept is pretty simple - they ask people experiencing poverty or marginalisation to identify a need they have this Christmas. It might be a particular gift that a kid wants, ingredients for a particular meal, a ticket home to their family. Each of the needs are presented to the community. The community can then select which financial request they want to give to. Instead of buying a present for an unnamed “teenage boy aged 14”, the person giving the present connects with the boy’s parent and the teenage boy gets what they want for Christmas. It's not an in-person gift that you get to prepare, but instead of the child being a charity recipient, and the parent bearing the shame of not providing for their family, the child wakes up that morning with a present from their parents. That seems like a gift worth giving to me.
Instead of giving a food hamper, let people choose what they want.
Giving food to others is a direct way that we can help people who are maybe struggling to put food on the table this Christmas. For this reason, Christmas hampers are really popular - a chance to buy and donate food and then wrap them up for other people. However pre-made hampers do not allow for people’s allergies, cultural needs or even personal preferences.
Allowing people to choose their own food gives people a sense of agency and is why a number of food centres such as Baptist Care’s Westcare and Anglicare’s Magdalene Centre have created community food hub models. Food is subsidised or free - but people can choose what they want to get. Sort of like a small supermarket. Even the biggest and most famous food redistribution centre - Foodbank - uses the same model.
The good news is that most of those places still rely on food donations. If you want to buy food, you can do the shopping and then donate it to one of those places. If you want to do something more local in your community - for families from a school for example - you could get a personalised shopping list and use that to make a hamper, or give them a supermarket gift card, or better yet - invite them to your place for Christmas.
Send some goats
As we have mentioned a few times in this learning community, supporting groups that support grassroots community development work is crucial. Christmas is always a good time to make a good donation to a charity that is doing good work and give them the money that your uncle doesn’t need.
So for those who want to give your Uncle a goat this Christmas, that is sent to someone else, here are three good options:
The original: TEARfund gets the credit for being the first aid and development charity to come up with this model of fundraising - and luckily for us, this is just one example of the innovative work that they do. For support of grassroot development organisations with localized methods and good accountability, check out TEARFund and their Really Useful Gifts Catalogue: https://www.usefulgifts.org/
The famous option: Another supporter of grassroot movements and a voice in International Advocacy, Oxfam is a fairly well known international voice - remember the ads, the telethons and the shops? You can find their gift catalogue at: unwrapped.oxfam.org.au
And the personal: You may have seen on our website that The Walk Humbly Initiative is a project of Interserve Development - another Australian-based and development agency. We are linked with Interserve Australia and their version of the gift catalogue can be found here: https://love.interserve.org.au/projects/
He agrees that Christmas should include goats.
