Giving back for the holidays

Looking to make a difference this season? The holidays are the perfect time to think about ways to give back to the community, or to help out people who may be going through a hard time at the moment. Here are four of our ideas for celebrating the spirit of giving during the holidays.

Serve up some goodwill

Help out some people in your own area by volunteering at a soup kitchen or for a meals on wheels programme. A hot meal is the best defense against the winter chill and food-related charities in particular are always on the lookout for help with Christmas meals.

Save the trees and a cause of your choice!

Christmas cards are nice and all, but we all know that the tradition can churn up a sizable amount of paper waste if you’re particularly popular. If you tend to send out piles and piles of Christmas cards every year, you could send out a customised Christmas ecard instead. Click the image below to watch Christmas ecard sent by Kuoni Travel, who also donated the money they would have spent on cards to a children’s charity. You can even donate money to some charities and they will provide you with an ecard to send to your family, you don’t have to make your own!

Christmas Ecard from Kuoni travel Ltd

Give the gift of a helping hand

If you already have everything you could possibly want this year, why not ask for friends and family to donate money to a charity in your name instead? Kiva, the venture that provides microloans for entrepreneurs in disadvantaged regions, offers a gift card just for this purpose. Hey, if you’re looking for a last minute gift idea…

Make a trade for fairtrade

Still prefer going the route of traditional gifts? Give fairtrade retailers a look for unique gifts from around the world. Plus, with fairtrade, you’re getting a fair wage for workers and keeping traditional local handicraft industries going. Shared Earth is UK based and has a ton of ideas, from jewelry to homeware to toys.

Image via Shared Earth

Have any ideas on how to give back during the holidays? Or are you doing anything special this year? Share with us in the comments section below!

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