Open, open, open. Do you guys remember that Mervyn's commercial? I feel like it's one of those commercials I'll never forget. What bring's me to this memory is that this Friday, hundreds of thousands of people across the U.S. will be waiting outside of stores well before midnight, in an effort to get the greatest shopping deals for their Christmas shopping.
So here's an idea: sleep in on Friday, get over your food comma, and do your shopping online while supporting some great causes. Below are a few of the amazing items you can purchase for friends and family, although you shouldn't limit yourself to these. If you have a son or daughter who is into environmental conservation, find an organization that focuses on that, and see what gift catalog they have to offer!
1) Support for International Change: I met a volunteer for SIC while working at the Arcade Fire show for Partners in Health. Looks like a cool organization, and I'm hoping I can work for them in the future. In the meantime, check out their cool handbags! I left the screen open to this one day in the hopes that Jeff would catch my drift...I guess it wasn't so subtle because he texted me and asked: "is this what you want for Christmas?" Yep :) They've got all sorts of styles, so be sure to check them out here.
2) Common Hope: the Common Hope gift catalogue is not actually shopping for those you know, but it still gives you a cool opportunity to buy some awesome gifts for COMPLETE STRANGERS (possibly in the name of someone you think would enjoy the honor), and what could be more rewarding?! haha. Check it out here.
3) Invisible Children: Originally, the invisible children website catalogue was pretty limited, but in checking it out for this blog, it seems that they've expanded their offerings quite a bit, which is awesome news for all you shoppers! They have both a Christmas catalogue and a general catalogue. I recommend going straight to the "all" catalogue so you can see everything they offer. My favorites are the bracelets with the DVD stories, and, again, not necessarily something you give to someone (although you could donate it on their behalf), but how cool is it knowing you can send someone to school for $35?!
4) Partners in Health: I've talked about PIH before, they're the organization I volunteered for at the Arcade Fire Show. They're doing some amazing things, not only in Haiti, but in developing countries around the world. Your $30 donation in exchange for this calendar will go to fund projects in Haiti, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, Mexico, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, and the US. My one complaint is that they don't show you a preview of the pictures in the calendar, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume they are awesome pictures from the amazing projects PIH is working on in each of it's locations.
Do you know of an organization with a gift catalogue? I'm always interested in learning about new organizations to feature on this blog, so please feel free to bring them to my attention!
Please, I will beg if necessary, check out these organizations and give an honest consideration to the thought of giving some of these as gifts to your friends or family.
Happy shopping!
Rad! Thanks for links! You should add 31 bits to your post. They have an office in Costa Mesa, do great stuff, and everyone I've met who works for them have been quality peeps:
ReplyDeletewww.31bits.com