Charitable Gift Giving

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Free Tagalog Lessons from Pimsleur for Philippine Typhoon Volunteers

November 28th, 2013 · Uncategorized

tagalog-free-lessonsHere’s a really neat idea from the folks at Pimsleur Language Programs.

As just about everyone knows by now, the Philippines was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan two weeks ago. As I mentioned in my last post, what tends to happen is that the news media will focus a lot of attention on the suffering for a short period of time, but after they’ve gotten what they need out of the disaster they’ll go to something else. In the meantime, those who are suffering are suffering no less because they’re not on TV anymore.

But even as the public starts to forget, there are some amazing charities and aid agencies that have hundreds of volunteers who are going to the Philippines to help.

From now until the end of the year, Pimsleur is offering 15 introductory lessons, or about 7.5 hours of lessons of Tagalog  (pronounced tuh-GUH-logh) for free. Tagalog is the most widely-spoken language out of 170 languages spoken in the Philippines.

Given that 30 lessons normally cost $120, this is at least a $60 value. Pimsleur did a similar thing with Japanese and Haitian Creole in 2010 and 2011 when disasters struck those countries.

If you know a volunteer organization, or individual volunteer who’s going to help out in the Philippines, this would be a great resource for them, even on the plane ride out. While they won’t be fluent in the language, it’ll help them learn the basics.

For more details and to download the 7.5 hours of lessons for free, visit here:

http://pages.pimsleur.com/philippines-relief

 

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Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines – How You Can Help

November 17th, 2013 · Developing Areas

Typhoon Haiyan, which touched down Friday, November 8, is now being called the strongest storm ever to make landfall in history. It battered the Philippines with sustained winds of almost 200 miles an hour. Over 10,000 people are believed to have perished, and over 1.2 million Filipino residents are at risk.

In the years I’ve been running this blog, I’ve seen a sad but rather predictable pattern to natural disasters like the one we’ve seen most recently in the Philippines with Typhoon Haiyan. The news media will show photos of the devastation and have heart-wrenching stories of those whose lives have been destroyed or forever changed. That’ll trigger an outpouring of support. Sadly, often there will be unscrupulous people who set up fake charity hotlines and Web sites in an effort to make a profit off the suffering of others. And then, after a few weeks pass, once the next news story hits most people will forget about the devastated areas, even though those in those areas may still be years away from recovery and will be in even greater need of help.

The one point I’ve stressed before–and will stress again–is to do your home work when giving. Avoid giving donations by text or at a Web site you don’t recognize. Send cash to a recognized charity rather than things like used clothes or canned food, which in many cases only get in the way. And please remember that even after the nightly news stops showing the pictures, the suffering is still there, and so is the need for your prayer and support.

The one Web site I always turn to first in situations like this when I’m looking to donate is Charity Navigator. They do an amazing job of evaluating charities and giving them a star rating from 1 to 4. 4-star charities are the best of the best. When you give to one of these charities, you can pretty much rest assured that your donation has the best chance of going directly to helping someone in need, versus getting tied up in political or bureaucratic nonsense.

Specifically, these are the charities that Charity Navigator has identified as 4-star charities, and who have committed to promising that if you designate your donation to go to help Typhoon Haiyan victims, that it will be spent there and nowhere else.

Action Against Hunger
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Architecture for Humanity
Concern Worldwide US
Direct Relief
Feed My Starving Children
Forward Edge International
GlobalGiving
International Relief Teams
International Rescue Committee
Lutheran World Relief
MAP International
Matthew 25: Ministries
Medical Ministry International
Medical Teams International
MedShare International
Mercy Corps
Oxfam America
United States Fund for UNICEF
Water Missions International
World Food Program USA
World Vision

Each of these, of course, are 501 (c)(3) designated charities, so your donation will be cash-deductible.

 

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World of Children Award Key-Shaped Jewelry

November 4th, 2013 · Children's Charities

The World of Children Award is sometimes referred to as the “Nobel Prize for child advocates”. It recognizes and provides funding for some of those who make a big difference for children worldwide. This year’s Advocacy Award Recipient is someone we’re talked about in the past on this blog: Lauren Bush Lauren, the originator and founder of the FEED Bag that has helped so many children around the world. Past honorees have included amazing people around the world who have improved childrens’ medicine around the world; helped comfort and support children faced with illnesses, poverty, or violence; and otherwise helped the neediest and most innocent people in the world.

Their annual award event is this coming Thursday in New York City. In commemoration, they’re selling two beautiful pieces of jewelry.

The first is a sterling silver horseshoe key chain:

horseshoe keychain

 

This will sell for $250. It’s made of sterling silver and features the signature World of Children Award logo. It’s available for purchase here.

The second is a Sterling Silver Necklance, also inspired by the World of Children Award logo and created by jewelry designers Adam Shulman and Heidi Nahser Fink of James Banks Design.

 

key shaped necklace

It sells for $1000 and is available for purchase here.

100% of all contributions of both items will help World of Children Award to fund projects that exclusively support vulnerable children all around the world. For instance – purchasing silver horseshoe key ring could provide a full month of rice for 25 children in Cambodia, or self-defense training for more than 1,000 vulnerable young girls worldwide,  or go to help someone like honoree Triveni Acharya, who rescues victims of child trafficking, or honoree Mead Welles, who gives essential prosthetic devices to children in third-world countries with limb deformities.  In its 16-year history, World of Children Award has invested more than $5 million in programs led by 100 Honorees serving vulnerable children in 150 countries.

 

 

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Get reward points for things you do every day

October 22nd, 2013 · American Red Cross, Ronald McDonald House

If you list out things that you do every day, there are bound to be a couple things on the list:

  1. Watch TV
  2. Use a search engine

What would you say if I told you that you could earn actual money by doing these things, and that this money could be donated to great charities?

All you have to do is sign up for these rewards programs. I’ll dedicate a separate post each week talking about each one.

There are tons of other programs out there that reward you for doing everyday things, but these are the ones I use every day. Here’s why:

viggle iconViggle is an app along the same lines as Shopkick, except instead of walking into stores you’re sitting on a couch watching TV. You can “check in” to any TV program you’re watching. and the Viggle App will use your phone microphone to listen to your TV and figure out what you’re watching. You’ll earn one point per minute.

For certain programs, you can earn bonus points (these are listed on the welcome screen each day). These are usually 100-2oo points.  There’s also cool “second screen” technology where for certain programs you can play a quiz and earn even more Viggle Points for correct answers. These can range from 100-200 points to the thousands of points. You can also earn bonus points for doing tasks such as watching commercials on their app or purchasing products and services.

As you might imagine, it takes a LOT of points to save up for a prize. It takes 25,000 points to earn a $10 Starbucks gift card, for example. and 62,500 points for a $25 CVS gift card. You can also use fewer points to enter sweepstakes.

From a charity perspective, you can spend 7,500 points to make a $5 donation to charities. The charities change from time to time, but this month they’re the American Red Cross and Rebuilding Together.

bing iconFinally, there’s Bing Rewards. In admittedly a little bit of desperation on their part to break the hegemony of Google, Bing launched a program where you can earn 1 point for every 2 searches you do on the Bing search engine.

You can redeem points for things like gift cards. For example, you can get a $5 Starbucks gift card for about 500 points, or about 1000 searches. If that seems like a lot to you, go into your browser history and see how many Google searches you’ve done in the past week.

Among their redemption options are some great options to help charities. Every 100 points will give a $1 donation to charities like Boys and Gifts Clubs of America, Kids in Need, and Teach for America. I would have liked to see Microsoft discount the charitable redemptions the same way that Shopkick and Viggle did, but just having them there as an option is a really good thing.

As for Bing’s quality, I have to say that while it used to be awful, over the years they’ve done a lot of good work and the quality is almost as good as Google in some areas, and even better than Google in other areas. Give them a try; while getting paid a half penny every time you search doesn’t seem like a lot, it does add up over time. And of course, Google isn’t giving you squat for all the times you use it!

And so, there’s my advice on rewards programs that reward you for doing everyday things and let you donate that “free money” to charity.

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Agraria Supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October 19th, 2013 · Breast Cancer

Agraria started life in 1970 as a boutique on Nob Hill in San Francisco, selling a mix of antiques, books, unique gifts, potpourri, candles, incense, sachets, and bath and body products. They specialized in home fragrance, launching with two signature aromas: Bitter Orange Potpourri and Balsam Perfume Candle, which together made an amazing combination.

Four years later, New York fashion landmark Henri Bendel put these Agraria scents at the front door of its flagship store, which got the attention of everyone from The New York Times to Vogue. Fast forward to today, and you’ll find Agraria scents everywhere from Bergdorf Goodman to InterContinental Hotels and Resorts to department stores and gift shops everywhere.

On their site, you’ll find bath, body, and candle products in eight signature aromas, including the original balsam and bitter orange, plus cedar rose, golden cassis, lavender and rosemary, lemon verbena, lime and orange blossoms, and Mediterranean jasmine.

I got a chance to try out a Cedar Rose crystal cane candle. It came packaged in a beautiful box, perfect for gifting.

IMG_0619

The candle itself is stunningly beautiful. It comes with a shiny silver plated lid. The candle holder is a beautiful crystal glass that you can use to hold tea lights once the candle is burned out; as the candle burns down, the candlelight twinkles through the crystal. Here’s a picture, but I’m afraid this picture doesn’t do it justice.

agraria candle burning

As the candle burns, the color of the premium soft wax (which is vegetable based) is a remarkable, shimmering dark pool of deep pink.

The cedar rose scent is also very unique exquisite, as all their different scents are. According to their Web site, a cedar rose is the top of a mature cedar pine cone that’s create when the cone dries out and the lower “petals” push off or disintegrate. So despite the pink color of their products and candles, they don’t smell strong and artificial like other rose-scented candles out there. Instead, they have a subtle scent that combines a deep cedar wood aroma with the Damask rose, a flower renowned for its fine fragrance, and commonly used to make rose oil or rose water.

While you can certainly get candles at lower prices, this is an example of a candle done right–that burns cleanly, has a fragrance that’s not artificial nor overpowering, looks as beautiful as it smells, and is made in the USA. If you’re in the market for the perfect present for someone who’s discerning about the highest quality, look here first before looking at your run of the mill Yankee candle.

During the month of October, 35% of all sales of Cedar Rose products from their Web site, fittingly enough due to its pink color, is being donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. In addition to this candle, they have bath bars and diffusers so that you and your home can smell nice too.

 

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Christmas Gifts at Kohl's, this year starring Snoopy!

October 13th, 2013 · Children's Charities, Kohls

Disclosure: We participate in the eBay Partner Network (EPN) meaning we may earn a commission when users click on links to eBay and make purchases. 

It’s that time of year again! Every year, I look forward to when Kohl’s releases its Kohl’s Cares line of gifts. As we’ve featured on this blog in past years, they’ve sold everything from Dr. Seuss books to Nancy Tillman books to Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals. I never fail to be impressed by the quality of gifts that they sell in this collection.

But even more remarkable is that the gifts sell for $5. If you look on Amazon and eBay, you’ll see that the very same merchandise usually retails for far more than this, but somehow they’ve managed to keep the $5 price point for years. And even more remarkable, 100% (that’s 100%) of the net profits go directly to kids’ health and education initiatives. Since 2000, over $231 million has been raised for the cause.

This year’s line of gifts feature my all-time favorite cartoon characters (and likely yours or a loved one’s)–Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Woodstock, and the whole Peanuts gang. Once again, they have a great assortment of high quality gifts, all at $5 (when’s the last time you bought anything for $5?). These aren’t watered down versions of the retail product–these are well produced products that match or even exceed the quality of what you’d find in any other store.

There’s a line of stuffed animals featuring Lucy, Snoopy, Linus, Charlie Brown, and Woodstock. And then there are books. There’s a picture book of the all-time classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. There are books to inspire kids, including “You Can Be Anything” and “Be Yourself”.

But my favorite gift (and grab it while it lasts) is a two-book set that features two Charles Schulz classics: Happiness is a Warm Puppy, and Christmas is Together Time. Both books come together shrink-wrapped at only $5.

kohl's peanuts classic gift set for $5

happiness is a warm puppy and christmas is together time at kohl's

Back in 1962, Happiness is a Warm Puppy landed on the New York Times bestseller list and sold millions of copies over the years. This is a brand new, hardcover version of the book that maintains the original book’s design, form factor, and even page colors.

While this would be a great gift for kids, I think it’s an even better gift for grown-ups, not only for nostalgic reasons, but because as with all of Charles Schulz’s comic strips, the pithy sayings in these books can be enjoyed from both a child’s perspective, but even more from a grown-up’s perspective. I’ve often said that Charles Schulz was one of the 20th century’s greatest philosophers. Check out some of the pages.

christmas is suggesting we decorate the tree with strings of popcorn and cranberries

happiness is a pile of leaves
christmas is a box of tree ornaments that have become part of the family
happiness is a good old fashioned game of hide and seek

This gift, along with the rest of the great selection, is available today at Kohl’s. I usually don’t start posting Christmas stuff until November, but because these gifts tend to sell out VERY fast, I’d suggest you stock up while you can!

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Heaven's Styles Boutique – Trendy Fashion that Fights Cancer #fightwithfashion

October 11th, 2013 · Cancer

stylish dressIf you look through the online catalog of Heaven Styles Boutique (www.heavenstyles.com) or their Facebook page, , you’ll see the spectacular creations of fashion designer Nathan Carl Garvin. His designs are unique and elegant, and yet approachable and affordable.

The ensemble you see to the right, believe it or not, is from their Spring and Summer collection, and costs $35 for the color block top and $30 for the elongated skirt. From their Facebook page, a Fall collection is currently available in the Heaven Styles Boutique location in the Boston area, and will be coming soon.

Heaven Styles Boutique uses the “fast fashion” technique, meaning that designs go quickly from the catwalk to retail sales, ensuring that you’re  always wearing this season’s latest fashions.

heaven styles t-shirts

What’s even more amazing about Nathan Garvin is that he has decided to “give back” with every purchase made from Heaven Styles Boutique. It started when he was asked to support a fashion show for Beat Liver Tumors. Garvin designed for a cancer survivor who ended up becoming a dear friend. From there, he decided to devote proceeds from all sales of his fashion designs to different cancer organizations.

In their boutiques, Heaven Styles also sells its own “Heaven Styles” branded T-Shirts, where $4 of each sale will go to a variety of great organizations. These aren’t your typical promotional logo T-shirts–they themselves come in a variety of colors and sizes.

Look through their site and their Facebook page, and spread the word. With great designs, truly personalized service, and a heart of gold, this is a small business that really deserves your attention.

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Great Wine that Supports a Great Cause #wine

October 9th, 2013 · Veterans and Military

wine-that-helps-charityOperation Homefront is a non-profit organization that helps the families of active-duty military and veterans in need with emergency financial assistance. Since it began in 1982, Operation Homefront has provided more than $170 million dollars in funding to programs that benefit military families. Last year alone, Operation Homefront met 151,150 needs for military families, including assistance with everyday needs like food, auto repair, medical assistance, housing, essential items, and raising morale. As a charity, it has been given the highest rating of four stars by Charity Navigator, which means that it’s one of the best run charities there are. Nationally, 95% of total revenue donated to the charity goes directly to programs that provide support to military families.

You can view more of the specific types of needs that Operation Homefront assists with here. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been tough on our country, and toughest on our soldiers. Many families have lost loved ones who died in service to our country, and survivors often suffer from financial hardship or physical or mental challenges upon returning home. The least we can do for these men and women who have given up so much of their lives to defend our country and our lives, is to help them. You can read more about Operation Homefront here.

Murphy-Goode is a wine seller in California. They’ve introduced a wonderful new red wine called “Homefront Red”. It’s a California red wine that’s a blend of Syrah, Merlot, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel grapes. According to the wine tasting notes it is “food friendly and fruit forward”, full of flavors like juicy black cherry and raspberry, with toasty vanilla notes and a long, nice finish. I got a chance to sample the wine, and it is definitely a high quality wine that’s complex and lives up to other fine wines. At $15 a bottle, available direct from the winery, it’s also a fantastic value for gift giving or just for enjoying at tailgating or holiday parties.

Aside from being an excellent wine, Murphy-Goode will donate 50 cents from each bottle to Operation Homefront, with a goal of raising at least $300,000 for Operation Homefront. As the holidays approach, the need is greater than ever for food assistance, vision care, community events, moving assistance, and the Wounded Warrior Wives program.

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NOMOS Glashutte Watches that help Doctors Without Borders

October 4th, 2013 · Developing Areas, Doctors Without Borders

This stunning watch is one of two special edition watches released by NOMOS Glashütte to support Doctors Without Borders. The watch comes in two sizes with a diameter of either 33mm or 38mmm, and both watches are limited to a production of only 1,000 watches.

watch for charity

NOMOS Glashütte first released a limited edition watch in March 2012 in Germany. Now, they’re repeating the charitable initiative by producing the NOMOS Tangente 38 and Tangente 33 in the United States.

What makes these hand-wound watches extra-special is  the name “Doctors Without Borders” on the white silver-plated dial, as well as a red “12” and an engraving on the back referring to the international medical humanitarian organization. In addition, these special models have black oxidized hands instead of the Tangente’s usual tempered blue ones.

The back is special as well. You can watch the intricate movement of the gears through the sapphire crystal glass back.

These watches do come at a premium price ($1,840 for the 33mm and $2,140 for the 38mm), but if you know someone who is an aficionado of the finest timepieces in the world, this is an amazing opportunity to get an amazing watch.

$100 of the sale of each watch will go to Doctors Without Borders, helping this amazing organization support people in countries around the world that are affected by armed conflicts, epidemics, malnutrition, or natural disasters. $100 is enough to supply one of the following:

  • 1,000+ refugees ensured clean water supplies for a week, thanks to chlorination equipment
  • 17 wool blankets to protect displaced people from the cold,
  • 5 emergency shelters for families uprooted during a crisis,
  • 450 emergency food rations,
  • 20 life-saving treatments for malaria,
  • 250 Meningitis A vaccine doses,
  • 90 rapid diagnostic tests for HIV,
  • 25 full sets of emergency wound dressing supplies for treatment in the field.

For more information on this amazing timepiece, or to buy one, visit http://www.nomos-store.com/en/MSF-US.

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Pink Shopping Bags for $2.99 at Safeway That Helps Breast Cancer Research

September 30th, 2013 · Breast Cancer

From now until November 3, when you visit a Safeway, Vons, Pavillions, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Dominick’s, or Carrs store, you’ll be able to purchase a reusable shopping bag for $2.99. A full $2.00 of that will go to benefit breast cancer research.

You can also purchase $30 of participating products with pink price tags, and $5 will be donated, up to $1,000,000. Here’s a video that talks about it, with a message from Stand Up to Cancer ambassador Marg Helgenberger of CSI fame.

The bag is reusable and engraved with the words “Creating a brighter tomorrow”. With 2.5 million women in the US (that’s one out of every 8) still affected by breast cancer, it’s a cause that still desperately needs all the attention we give it every October.

creating a brighter tomorrow

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