It's easy to let consumerism take over Christmas but Canadians are increasingly turning to charitable gifts to supplement their purchases of toys and electronic gadgets.
Various non-profit organizations offer a range of gift items aimed at helping people in poor countries and the list of options grows every year.
World Vision is one of the most active in the charitable gift sector. The organization started its gift catalogue more than a decade ago and now offers a broad range that includes livestock, fruit trees, mosquito nets, soccer balls, medicine and education.
"I think people see they have what they need so they're turning toward the gift catalogue for other types of gift-giving," said Autumn Ballek, the organization's representative for northern Alberta.
The World Vision gift catalogue raised $15.6 million in 2006 and $18 million in 2009. Some of the organization's best sellers are hens and roosters, goats and stocking a medical clinic, Ballek said.
"The gift catalogue has been used in different scenarios, sometimes to complement what people are already giving or sometimes it's been to replace it," Ballek said.
Oxfam Canada started its Unwrapped program in 2006 and has experienced a 40 per cent increase in sales since then, said spokesperson Karen Palmer.
"One of the favourite gifts that people give is a donkey. It seems to be the top seller every year," Palmer said.
Prospective donors often wonder where the animals come from and what happens to them when they're received by families.
All animals are bought locally in their country of destination, which ensures they are consistent with local practices, Palmer said. Animals are delivered to families as an agricultural or household asset. Donkeys, for example, are used as a beast of burden.
"A lot of women use them for carrying water," Palmer said.
Oxfam has representatives working in its various destination countries to monitor the gifts, she said.
"[People] worry about families getting a sheep and then just slaughtering it and having a good meal," Palmer said. "That's not how these programs work at all. It's really meant to be the start of a herd."
Charity
This year students from St. Albert's Albert Lacombe school raised nearly $2,400 to buy livestock for people in developing nations through an organization called Canadian Food For the Hungry International.
Since starting the program three years ago, school officials have noticed that it really appeals to children, who delight in watching videos of villagers bonding with donated animals, said principal Julian Di Castri.
The program also fits with the school's message of social conscience and giving.
"It kind of gets them away from that whole racket of rampant consumerism that they live and breathe every day," Di Castri said.
Educational tool
CanadaHelps is an organization that allows people to donate online to any registered charity in the country, an activity that spikes during the Christmas season, said executive director Owen Charters.
While Statistics Canada data shows that charitable donations are on the decline overall, donating online has gone through the roof, Charters said.
"It's actually more the smaller and more local [organizations] that people like to find," he said. "People are finding unique individual causes to give to and then getting engaged with them as a result."
Like World Vision, CanadaHelps sells gift cards that allow the recipient to select their preferred charitable gift. Charters is finding these to be gaining popularity with parents and grandparents.
"They put a gift card in [a child's] stocking and in between Christmas and New Year's they sit down and start talking about … what is it to give to charities, how are you going to spend the gift card … it's become an educational tool," Charters said.
