misfortune8PlatinumMisfortune8
Founding MemberPlatinum
6 mths, 3 wks ago

A Thoughtful Christmas Present Idea

One year, my friend bought a pair of ducks in my name for an impoverished family in a developing country. It was one of the best presents I’d ever received!

Now, whenever my family ask what I want, I always say a charity voucher.

Over the years, I’ve received:
• A prosthetic limb for a woman in war-torn Sierra Leone
• Restore someone’s sight through Fred Hollows
• Clean water supply for a village
• Christmas dinner for a homeless person
& others, similar.

Last year, my niece a-d-o-p-t-e-d an elephant for her animal-loving sister. She tracks its movements on an app & sometimes updates me on her migration across Africa’s borders.

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I think these are all very thoughtful gifts. I’ve asked for the same this year.

* Forgive the hyphens – it’s taken multiple edits to work out which word/s or phrase/s were causing for the error messages. Who’d have thought a-d-o-p-t-e-d would be the trigger word?

12 comments 8 voices

Replies

  • Lucy16
    Bronze
    Lucy16
    6 mths, 2 wks ago

    I love handmade gifts and donations to charities or gifts sourced from ethical businesses.

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  • misfortune8PlatinumMisfortune8
    Founding MemberPlatinum
    6 mths, 2 wks ago

    There’s currently a 50% off offer at Oxfam – but only for a few chosen items. It was confusing because the checkout didn’t show 50% off. I sent them an email querying this, & a woman phoned me back with the details.
    E.g. I chose the Christmas Garden.

    An unbeLEAFable gift

    This Christmas card will have your loved one wetting their… plants. It will also help to establish a community garden, giving people in poverty a source of delicious food and income!

    Choose from:
    Blank card sent to you
    Personalised card sent to the recipient
    Ecard sent via email
    Print at Home card
    I just want to make a donation (no card)

    For: $27, $55, $65, $90, $125 or I just want to make a donation (no card).

    Since they’re 50% off, I’d planned to spend twice as much. The confusing bit is it’s only 50% off the cheapest selection. In the case of the garden, the cheapest one is really $55: it looked like $27 was the cheapest, but if you pay $27, they donate the $55 garden set. I ended up paying less than I’d planned, so I bought myself a goat for 50% off. The cards don’t show the value, so the recipient doesn’t know how much you spent.

    This offer ends at 11:00am (AEDT) Wednesday, 15 December.

    OMG! It has LITERALLY taken me 40 minutes to edit in all of that info without getting error messages!

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  • Normap
    Bronze
    Normap
    6 mths, 3 wks ago

    I have also bought things like this but this year I heard about a turtle charity. You give some donation and you are given an app for you phone. You can then look up where “your” turtle is, around the world, at any give time. They do seem to travel far and wide.!! ???

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  • perthchickPlatinumPerthchick
    Founding MemberPlatinum
    6 mths, 3 wks ago

    @Juju47 I put lots of things on my verge with a free sign on it. I also have a large brick letterbox so items go on there with a free sign. Sometimes non perishable food items go on there.

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  • JuJu47
    Bronze
    JuJu47
    6 mths, 3 wks ago

    This is special -Closer to home there are collection boxes at a lot of stores for the needy an it is nice to include a small gift or foodstuffs to help others too

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  • TrackydackyPlatinumTrackydacky
    Platinum
    6 mths, 3 wks ago

    The latest novel gift idea I’ve seen to buy somebody is a square foot of land in Scotland. It then entitles them to be a Lady or Lord/Laird and I think a tree is then planted in your plot.

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  • perthchickPlatinumPerthchick
    Founding MemberPlatinum
    6 mths, 3 wks ago

    Gorgeous and very thoughtful.

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    • misfortune8PlatinumMisfortune8
      Founding MemberPlatinum
      6 mths, 3 wks ago

      My sister & niece have asked for the same this year, too – it’s catching!

      Reply Report
  • SootyherePlatinumSootyhere
    Platinum
    6 mths, 3 wks ago

    That’s beautiful. What wonderful presents. Changing the world one gift at a time.

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    • misfortune8PlatinumMisfortune8
      Founding MemberPlatinum
      6 mths, 3 wks ago

      Thanks, @Sootyhere! We often receive things we don’t like, want or need. Some people can be hard to buy for, but I truly appreciate things like this.

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