Holiday Cheer

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by

Recently, a friend asked me what gift he should give someone he rarely speaks to and isn’t actually fond of. I couldn’t help but think “why bother with a gift at all, then?”. He should rather turn the holidays into an opportunity to improve the relationship, and even better, help someone in the world who needs it. So, this season, if you are in a financial position to do so, I encourage you to make a gesture of reconciliation to someone in your life, and then seal it with a donation to a charity!

Here are some of my favorite charities, if you don’t have one in mind:

• World Vision
http://www.worldvision.org
Sponsor a child!

• The Girl Effect
http://www.girleffect.org
Girls can change the world!

• Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org
Protect Human Rights!

• For All Women
http://oprah.com/forallwomen
Helping one woman helps her entire community

• The Animal Rescue Site
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Compassion for all of God’s creatures

• Leukemia Research Foundation
http://www.leukemia-research.org
Support Leukemia research!

• Bone Marrow Registry
http://www.marrow.org
Save someone’s life. Now, that’s a gift!

I’ve decided that it’s more important for me to celebrate the holidays this year through genuine demonstrations of love, rather than materialistic and sometimes empty exchanges of “gifts”. So, I’ve asked my close friends and family to (gulp) forego gifts for me and to instead make a charitable donation. More than any gift that I may receive (despite my unfettered joy in receiving), I love the idea that some precious person in the world will receive much needed support, aid, attention, and yes, maybe, a gift instead.

I’m in the midst of preparing my annual holiday newsletter, so keep your eyes open for that!

Happy Holidays! And may every blessing imaginable be yours!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 5:35 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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