Easy Ways To Donate This Winter

Invisible Children

What: Awareness-raising DVDS and bracelets

Who to give it to: Your philanthropic friend

Who it benefits: Citizens of Uganda

Most of us have heard of the ever-growing charity Invisible Children, especially after the special presentation the organization put on during seminar two weeks ago. Basically, it’s a group of three guys that started out on a film-making adventure by traveling to Uganda, where they discovered the tragedy of the rebel war. They came back to the states and started Invisible Children, a not for profit group that raises awareness of the children that are being used to fight.

Invisible Children sells DVDs about different children and follows them throughout their normal life. Watching the touching and insightful videos makes people want to do something to help—and this holiday season you actually can.

The DVDs come with bracelets that help to raise awareness about these children. These bracelets are made in Africa with a different color for each child, and the bracelets themselves make a really cool statement. The jewelry is made by people in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, the project is helping the workers earn their income.

They, like many other charities, give the people of Uganda an opportunity to save and loan money among many other business principles. The people that make the bracelets then get the money from the sales,  and many start their own businesses, thus flourishing and building a new life for themselves and their once-struggling families.  You can have a part in helping someone get back on their feet again, and make a life for themselves. Just buying a simple DVD for someone can help raise awareness (as well as money) for resolving the issues in Uganda. Just think, the gifts you give this year could not only bring joy to your friends or family, but also support someone who deserves a better life.

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Krochet Kids

What: Nonprofit knit winter goodies

Who to give it to: Your mom

Who it benefits: Women in Northern Uganda

Krochet Kids international (KKi) is a charity that aims to change the lives of women in Northern Uganda. The charity is great because their mission, “to empower people to rise above poverty,” is being lived out daily in Uganda. Eighty-seven  women who make up the “family” spend their days crocheting hats, scarves, and laptop cases to earn their living.

Women work with KKi for a minimum of three years and they not only teach them how to crochet, but other work skills they can use for life. The women get a mentor who works with them and trains them on how to maintain a budget, save and loan money, and manage a business.  These are skills that can raise women and their families out of poverty and off of humanitarian aid. As we all know, mothers are one of the greatest influences on children, so by helping the women you are in turn helping their children. The women are not only crocheters, but seamstresses who sew in the tags. There are also women who are called “hut leaders” who are working in the compound in Northern Uganda.

KKi makes eight different styles of hats, but you can also purchase shirts, scarves, and laptop cases. They are about $25-30 and the money goes back to support the women and their families in Northern Uganda. Instead of buying a generic hat from Target for your friends this year, think of the women you could be supporting in Africa. You can carry out KKi’s motto: “Buy a hat. Change a life.”

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Charity: water

What: Graphic Tees

Who to give it to: Your significant other

Who it benefits: Third-world countries lacking resources

Turning on the faucet in our kitchens at home is a day-to-day task that most of us don’t think much of; we take our instant access to clean and purified water for granted. The harsh reality is that a billion people on earth can’t just turn on a faucet and get clean water. Most can’t even turn on a faucet and get any kind of water.

Charity: water is trying to fix that problem. They are trying to make a small dent in the amount of people who have to stand at a well for eight hours to get water, or have to carry 80 gallons of water five miles in the blistering hot sun.

So now you ask how can I help? There are several ways to help out with charity: water, but for this holiday season and the time of gift giving a T-shirt is best. The shirts are $25, with $15 going to help with building wells for people in need. Charity: water has helped over one million people get fresh clean drinking water, just in the past year. The support of 37 companies like Banana Republic and Cisco also support the company’s efforts and in turn help them to provide water to impoverished people.

This holiday season when you’re drinking eggnog around your fire, remember the people half -way around the world that can’t even get a sip of safe water—and that you can do something about it. Helping someone obtain a basic necessity to live could be the most rewarding thing for more than just them this holiday season.

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TOMS Shoes

What: Nonprofit shoe/accessory company

Who to give it to: Your best friend

Who it benefits: A needy child in a third-world country

Buying a loved one a pair of TOMS not only protects their feet, but also a child in a third-world country. The “one for one” motto that TOMS has come up with gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair bought. TOMS come in many different styles, ranging from every solid color to neon splatter paint to glittery black. They have shoe styles for men, women, and children, but they also sell T-shirts, hats, and many other things—and all of these proceeds go to supporting the company.

The reason 31-year-old Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS, decided to create a nonprofit foundation selling shoes was because of all of the children, specifically in Argentina, that were contracting diseases because they didn’t have anything protecting their feet from the ground. Having shoes is an essential to children in other countries because, like us, shoes are a requirement for school and without them they are unable to receive an education. For these kids, a simple pair of shoes can allow them to realize their potential and receive a much-desired education.

TOMS run about $44 for the most basic shoe —a little pricey for slip-ons, but you are also buying two pairs of shoes. Just, think: with that money not only are you making a friend or family member happy (and trendy), but giving hope and an opportunity to a child who wouldn’t have it otherwise.