Unique Gifts Ideas

Christmas Gifts with a Heart

December 19th, 2007 Posted in Christmas Gifts

Just before Christmas of 2003, Paddy Torsney’s mother finally got her ears pierced.

Spying the opportunity for a thoughtful gift, each member of the family set off shopping for a special present. In the end, it seems each had the same bright idea.

“Every single person in the family bought her pearl earrings,” Ms. Torsney says.

While mom liked the gifts, Ms. Torsney says with a laugh, there are only so many earrings one can wear at a given time.

Next year, Christmas at the Torsney house would be a bit different.

Ms. Torsney, who served as a Liberal MP from 1993 to 2006 and now serves as Stéphane Dion’s deputy principal secretary, traveled to Kenya in 2004. While there, she visited the slums of Nairobi and came back with a changed perspective on the opulence of Canadian Christmas.

“Just thinking about all the things we have that we don’t really need was quite a moving experience,” she says. “So when I came home and told my family about my trip, I said everyone’s getting charitable gifts for Christmas.”

That year, Ms. Torsney bought her gifts from World Vision’s online Christmas Gift Catalogue.

“People were so excited,” she says. “Friends of mine said this was the best present they ever got. You can wish people well, with a good gift that keeps on giving,” she says.

This website, one of many that have been cropping up in recent years, is part of an effort within the charity community to make Christmas more generous, less consumerist and, ultimately, more meaningful.

Organizations like Oxfam Canada, PLAN Canada, the Christian Children’s Fund and others have all launched websites through which shoppers can purchase much-needed items for impoverished families throughout the developing world. Things like school supplies, medical treatments, livestock, housing and many other items can now be purchased for a specific country at the click of a button. Gift prices can range from a few dollars to a few thousand for big-ticket items such as houses and school bathrooms.

Many of these sites also allow shoppers to buy these things in the name of a friend or loved one, who will receive a letter in the mail informing them that someone far away will soon be very happy.

Goats Preferable to Socks

It is perhaps counterintuitive to think giving a gift that will never be seen by the recipient could be satisfying, but a new poll indicates quite the opposite.

In fact, 77 per cent of Canadians surveyed by Ipsos Reid this month said they didn’t need anything for Christmas. Furthermore, a full 84 per cent agreed that they would prefer to have a gift given on their behalf to help someone else rather than receive a traditional gift like a pair of socks or a sweater.

Dave Toycen, president and CEO of World Vision Canada, believes the statistics, and with good reason. Last year World Vision’s online gift website drummed up $15 million worth of gifts for the developing world, an increase of 50 per cent from the year before.

Mr. Toycen says this new on-demand method appeals to the demands of today’s consumers.

“It suits some of our sentiment, I think, in Western countries, where it’s quick, it’s responsive, it’s tangible,” he says.

Last year, he says, 76,000 Canadians gave over 240,000 gifts through the website. Top sellers last year, Mr. Toycen says, were “Two Hens and a Rooster,” “Supply a Classroom” and “Clothes for Children and Families.”

Another big seller, he says, were goats, which come with all the vaccinations, feed and training needed to care for them.

Mr. Toycen says a goat can make a huge difference for families across the globe, from Nicaragua to Mozambique to Sri Lanka.

“They can milk the goat, they can sell it, the goat can be butchered, the goats reproduce, the manure is used for fertilizer,” he goes on excitedly. “It has a tremendous impact on families with very limited income. That’s the bottom line.”

Mr. Toycen says one of his special joys is being on site when these gifts are given to needy families.

He tells the story of a mother in Tanzania who said members of her impoverished family were living on less than two dollars a day. She said that, as a direct result of receiving a few goats, her children would be able to attend school next year.

“What seems so small to us can make such a dramatic difference for a family,” he says.

Gift Advice from a Pro

Since Christmas 2004, Mr. Torsney says, gifts of donations to the developing world have become the staple of her gift-giving repertoire.

She says she gives such gifts not only at Christmas, but also for birthdays and other occasions.

The most important thing, Ms. Torsney says, is to put some thought into the gift. Think about the interests of the receiver and what’s important to them before shopping, she advises.

“If you go through the catalogue, you will see there are gifts that speak to exactly who the person is,” she says. “So if it’s a teacher’s present, there are notebooks and pencils, for kids who like bunnies I give bunnies, and goats for other people. You can actually speak to people’s interests.”

Ms. Torsney also advises that shoppers make sure to leave enough time when purchasing for the gift card to arrive.

But if time is short, all is not lost. Many of these websites allow purchasers to print off cards instantly. Ms. Torsney knows from experience, she says, adding that she’s bought gifts as late as Christmas Eve.

One last tip, she says, is to co-ordinate with family. The year after the pearl earring incident, Ms. Torsney’s mother received donations in her name for winter clothing for children in Georgia from all her children.

“We all picked the same present for my parents out of the catalogue because it spoke to our mother’s plea that children go to school dressed warmly,” she says.

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