Charitable Gift Giving

Our eyesight is one of the most important things in our lives. With access to vision centers, glasses stores, mail order contact lenses, and increasingly affordable LASIK surgery, it’s something we’ve grown to take for granted. And yet more than 285 million people in the world suffer from vision impairment and have no hope of access for even basic eye care.

Shaun’s Shades is a new brand of sunglasses featuring very stylish and fashionable sunglasses. To see how stylish, check out their online Look Book. Their glasses are designed in California and made in Italy, and feature Carl Zeiss lenses (which can be identified by a tiny microscopic “Z” for authenticity). Carl Zeiss is a renowned manufacturer of lenses who have accomplished things like inventing the first anti-reflective coating (which is applied to these glasses), to manufacturing the lens used to film the moon landing. They rival some of the best premium sunglasses out there. Shaun’s Shades even has a virtual mirror on their site that’s a pretty nifty way of seeing what the glasses look like on you.

But what’s remarkable about Shaun’s Shades is that for every pair you purchase, a pair of vision correction glasses will be given to someone around the world in need. So far they’ve given away more than 5,000 pairs of glasses, supporting clinics in areas like Honduras, Ecuador, Haiti, Columbia, and Peru.

I got to sample a pair of “Clyde” sunglasses. They come packaged in a sturdy, thick case:

Inside the glasses are protected in a drawstring bag with the “” slogan. There’s also some literature about the mission of Shaun’s Shades. One thing I found very cool was their business card, which features their logo of three dots (signifying the letter “S” in Braille).

The first thing that struck me was how light glasses themselves were. Yet they’re very sturdy. They’re comfortable to wear and pleasant to look through. The letters “CE” on sunglasses mean that the glasses offer a safe level of sun protection.

While I’m too bashful to take my own picture, here’s a picture of my Aflac Duck wearing the shades.

I love the little details, such as the words “GIVE” and “SIGHT” subtly placed around the glasses, as well as the Braille logo. It’s a great reminder of the good your purchase is doing. The three-dot logo is also printed on the glasses.

If you’re in the market for designer sunglasses, you can’t do much better than this: Italian-made glasses with professional grade lenses and the knowledge that your purchase is going to help give sight to others in need.

Founder Shaun Peterson probably put it best when he said “We don’t want you to compromise your personal style or desire for quality to help solve this problem – we want you to enhance it. We want you to look good giving”.

Are you looking for a simple-yet-meaningful Christmas gift? Relief International has a beautiful Relief Bead bracelet for sale on their site handcrafted by women in Africa.

These beautiful bracelets are handcrafted by African women. Costing only $10, they’ll go a long way towards Relief International’s missions. According to their site:

– One bracelet will feed a malnourished child for a week
– Five bracelets will bring a malnourished child back to good health
– Ten bracelets will restore two malnourished children
– One hundred bracelets will save the lives of 20 children.

Specifically, proceeds from these bracelets will help:

· Feed hungry children in famine stricken Africa and Haiti.
· Provide shelter and livelihoods for displaced in South Asia.
· Give loans to poor women across the world to become economically self-sufficient and feed their families.
· Ensure those impacted by disasters be it in Turkey, Pakistan, or Japan can get back on their feet.

It’s a beautiful and direct way to help change the lives of others around the world. To learn more about Relief International and to order a bracelet, visit www.ri.org. Order by Dec. 14 to ensure delivery by Dec. 24 in the US.

The good folks at Nonviolent Peaceforce reached out to me to tell me about something called “Peace Bonds”. These are beautifully designed gift cards with a difference. When you purchase one, the proceeds goes to help fund Nonviolent Peaceforce’s work around the world to prevent violence, promote peace, and protect civilians in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict zones. The cards come in different denominations from $10 (two hours of peace) to $500 (100 hours of peace).

Nonviolent Peaceforce is an international nonprofit organization with locations in South Sudan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka committed to nonviolent peacemaking in some of the world’s most dangerous conflict areas. They have been endorsed by people from The Dalai Lama to Lech Walesa. Unlike UN and government peacekeepers, they don’t use weapons or armed forces. Typically, they respond to invitations by local governments or credible local organizations committed to nonviolent solutions. Their activities have ranged from entering active conflict zones to remove civilians in the crossfire to providing opposing factions a safe space to negotiate to working in schools and talking to community leaders, to protecting families. Other activities include serving as a communication link between warring factions, securing safe temporary housing for civilians displaced by war, providing violence prevention measures during elections and negotiating the return of kidnapped family members.

After being invited, they meet key players, including commanders from opposing sides, local police, religious, business, and civil society leaders. When violence erupts, civilians under threat often contact them, as they have been living among them. Visibly nonpartisan and unarmed, they arrive in NP uniforms, with NP vehicles, letting their presence be known.

While it doesn’t snow in the Carribbean and visions of sugarplums are not likely dancing in kids’ heads there, kids there still love Christmas. But sadly, many children in the Caribbean are impoverished or in orphanages and children’s homes across islands such as Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia, and Antigua.

Most people know about Sandals Resorts, but you may not have heard about The Sandals Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of the corporate offices. A non-profit organization, it contributes to improve education, the environment, and communities of across the Carribbean.

This year, the Sandals Foundation has partnered with Hasbro. For every $10 donation you give to the Foundation, Sandals will match your donation 100%, and in addition, Hasbro will donate a toy to be given to a child in need. In addition, Hasbro will enable the foundation to purchase brand news toys at reduced prices to help as many children as possible, with a goal of delivering 10,000 toys.

To participate in the Holiday Triple Play Toy Drive, log on to www.sandalsfoundation.org to make a tax deductible contribution or mail a check or gift card in the amount of your choice, to: Holiday Toy Drive, c/o Unique Vacations Inc., 4950 S.W. 72nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33155 by December 15, 2011.

Chances are if you look in your garage you’ll find an old soccer ball that’s deflated. How nice would it be to have a soccer ball that never runs out of air and never gets waterlogged?

One World Futbol is the answer. It’s a ball that’s the same size and weight as a traditional soccer ball, but will always maintain its play quality no matter how much it’s used. The ball was originally developed so that kids in developing and devastated areas could play ball. In places where there’s so much suffering, it’s amazing how far a little recreation can go. But too often, the equipment those areas get are substandard or old. Kids would go far as to fashion their own balls from trash and twine and whatever they could get their hands on.

When purchasing one of these balls for yourself, another ball will be donated to areas such as Somalia and Haiti. While organizations like UNICEF and Partners in Health are helping these areas with essentials like food and medicine, these balls can also give kids in these areas a reason to smile and play.

The balls are the same size and weight as a regular soccer ball, are manufactured using state-of-the-art technology,  and are virtually indestructible, so it’ll make a great ball for you and your family as well.