Holiday gifts for globally minded do-gooders

A friend of mine finished her Christmas shopping this past weekend. How I envy her. Where are you with your list? If you haven’t yet thought about holiday shopping — or even figured out what you’re doing for Thanksgiving — help is here for you.

Motivated by my inspirational friend, I’ve been starting to brainstorm and browse, because the great thing about early holiday shopping, she explained, is that it gives her the time and space to thoughtfully choose appropriate gifts for her loved ones, rather than making do with generic gifts purchased in the holiday-rush frenzy.

So with the goal of appropriate gifts for friends and family, I’d like to offer ideas by theme. A couple days ago, I suggested gifts for the environmentally minded travelers on your list. Today I’m window-shopping for those who are particularly socially conscious in a globally minded way. They selflessly serve, volunteer at home and abroad, and give of time and/or money in big-hearted fashion. Following are ways that you can give them something that helps them give back.

TOMS Shoes
For each and every pair purchased, TOMS donates shoes to a child in need. The company, founded in May 2006, has thus far donated more than 50,000 pairs of shoes to children in South Africa and over 10,000 pairs to children in Argentina. I haven’t tried them on for size myself, but they look pretty darn comfortable in their casual-cool style. Shoes are available in men’s, women’s, children’s and babies’ sizes. Purchase online or see the store locator on the website to find shoes to try on near you.
Cost: $34-$65 (pre-tax)

[Photo: TOMS Shoes]

FairTrade goods
Nonprofit organization Global Exchange has an online store, FairTrade, which offers products produced by low-income craftspeople and farmers in Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere for a living wage. The “Gifts Under $30″ section features among its wares hand-painted Tunisian pottery (from $8), a business card holder hand-stitched by members of a Palestinian women’s craft co-op, and unique Zulu baskets ($30) made by women in South Africa.
Cost: $8 (pre-tax) and up

[Photo: traditional Zulu basket. Credit: Global Exchange]

Charity donations
If your intended recipient is not too keen on material gifts, consider giving to a nonprofit in your family member or friend’s name. Through Los Angeles-based TreePeople, for donations ranging from $25 to $100, you can dedicate a native tree or a whole grove of them, which will help support the organization’s tree-restoration efforts. With Heifer International, you can dedicate everything from honeybees ($30) to a heifer ($500) to be given to a family in need somewhere in the world. Many nonprofit organizations offer easy ways to “gift” a friend with a donation to their favorite cause.

[Photo credit: Heifer International]

Do you have great gift ideas for the do-good travelerkind? Let us know in the Comments section below.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 10:00 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Eco-Travel, Global, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.