Gift Giving Guy

Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoyed the gift of time with family. This year, my wife and I worked from a $100 budget (give or take) for our own Christmas presents. I gave my wife Ugg Dakota slippers from Zappos.com and J. K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I received leather gloves and a belt from Eddie Bauer, a wood carved peg puzzle from Pier 1 Imports, an iTunes gift card and a Victorinox SwissMemory USB Multitool. And we added one more stocking stuffer: a buzzing hive of honeybees.

Our less-is-more approach left additional funds to give to charity, including Heifer International. This non-profit organization features gifts of livestock and plants to fight hunger and poverty worldwide. We gave a package of honeybees, which includes the hive, an enclosing box, supplies and training in beekeeping. The bees will go where they are needed the most: perhaps Kosovo, El Salvador, Zambia or Uganda. Families in need will earn income by selling honey, beeswax and pollen. Heifer also lets you fund specific projects that bolster impoverished regions of China, Peru, Tanzania, Nepal, Honduras, Poland or Ukraine. Keep Heifer in mind for your charitable giving this holiday season.

Related Post: Give the Gift of Charity