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Given with love

by Sarah Walsh Landini

Did you know that we could wipe out severe malnutrition, widespread illiteracy, and preventable disease with $25 billion per year--the amount that the US spends on lawn care*? What a cause for lament! We care more about the look of our lawns than feeding the hungry, preventing disease and teaching the illiterate to read. God have mercy on us. It is fair to say that our hearts have become separated from the things that break the heart of God. (Myself very much included! I purchased a $14 tube of lipgloss with my birthday money instead of contributing toward these causes.)

I recently spent some time at the Heifer Project International Ranch in Arkansas. Heifer is a non-profit organization that since 1944 has worked to end hunger and poverty by giving struggling families the gift of farm animals to provide them with ongoing food and income. Through the gift of livestock, a family can obtain milk, eggs, wool and other benefits to feed, clothe and educate their children. Each gift multiplies, literally and figuratively, as each family that receives a Heifer International animal promises to "pass on the gift" by giving one or more of their animal's offspring to another family in need.

What amazed me about Heifer International is how refreshing their model of gift giving is. They encourage others to underwrite these animal gifts in honor of friend or family in lieu of gifts for birthdays and holidays. Christmas, the most heavily marketed and gift-giving holiday of the year, is just around the corner. I truly love getting gifts and knowing that someone thought of me on birthdays and during the holidays. I am wondering if I love receiving gifts more than I love the poor, illiterate and sick. When I am honest with myself, I know what the sad answer is. I might try to practice some dying to self this holiday season. I might refrain from asking for new books, CD's, and movies this Christmas. I might ask that people underwrite gifts of animals as gifts to me instead in an effort to redeem what has become, for me, an increasingly consumerist and individualistic holiday.

There are a number of items that can be bought and given which not only send the message of thoughtfulness this holiday season, but also one of compassion for the world's poor. The following is a partial, and by no means, exhaustive list. Enjoy!

• Ten Thousand Villages sells fairly traded handicrafts from around the world. To find the location nearest you, go to their web site.

 

 

• Equal Exchange Coffee is organically grown, fairly traded coffee provides a living wage for coffee farmers. It is sold in many stores as well as online.

 

 

• Real Goods sells an endless list of products that help people conserve the earth?s resources.

 

 

• Mary Kay, Aveda and The Body Shop are all cosmetic companies who refuse to test on animals, use no animal by-products, use mostly organic materials, and recyclable packaging.

 

 

• Little Earth, a Pittsburgh-based company, creates cool products by using recycled and reused materials.

 

 

• Small Businesses need our support more than ever in the age of corporate super stores. Support small business while you do your Christmas shopping this year!

*statistic from Heifer Project International, 2004.