Christmas gifts that truly give

By Janine Anderson

Monday, November 21, 2005 2:03 AM CST

RACINE - As the holiday season approaches, the push to purchase gifts is in full swing. But there's another option for those who want to avoid the holiday traffic: Purchase a donation instead.

On Sunday morning, First Presbyterian Church sponsored its seventh annual Alternative Christmas Market. In a sort of reverse gift-giving, attendees purchase needed donations for local, national and international charitable organizations and take with them a card to give to someone on their list, letting them know that a donation was made in their name.

"Instead of getting another red tie or a pair of socks or something that people don't need, this is a pretty meaningful way to give a gift that really counts," said Myrna Kryger, who helped with this year's event. "It's a nice thing for the giver and the receiver."

Kryger said it is a popular event that raises thousands of dollars annually for charitable organizations. The need for giving is especially great this year, because of the large number of natural disasters that have devastated areas of the United States and other countries.

"This gives shoppers a chance to really give a significant gift, and it does some good in the community and in the world, actually," Kryger said.

While First Presbyterian's event is over, the opportunity still exists to make donations instead of purchasing gifts for loved ones this holiday season. Charitable organizations are happy to provide notes of acknowledgment to pass on to the recipient of such a gift, and there are always plenty of needs locally and nationally that holiday donations can help meet.

Cheryl Buckley, executive director for the Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization, said people often call them asking what kinds of things they can do for the organization. There are opportunities for people to purchase gifts for the people staying in the shelter as well as the chance to help out with items the organization needs to operate the facility.

"We get a lot of phone calls where people will say `I'd like to get something. What can I get?' " Buckley said. "Someone today said they'd like to do something at the men's shelter. We really need long underwear and coats. We have a certain amount of a budget that we run for our food and for our shelter, but when it comes to clothing and household items when people are moving out of the shelter, they came with nothing and are going to set up a household somewhere. We rely totally on donations for that."

Racine County Food Bank Executive Director Dan Taivalkoski said donations, especially monetary ones, are particularly important going into the holidays. They already have the food they need to make up the holiday baskets distributed in early December, but will need to be able to keep the pantry stocked in January and February as well. Money is even more needed than food, he said, because it allows them greater flexibility.

"We can stretch a dollar a lot farther than the typical shopper can at the grocery store because we buy in such quantity," he said. "The dollar donations are truly appreciated. Money's a lot easier to carry around than a can of beans and we can steer it the way we need without a lot of volunteer effort to sort it out."

Buckley and Taivalkoski said they would be happy to send acknowledgments to anyone making a donation as a holiday gift.

Kryger said that donations as gifts are a good choice for just about anyone on the holiday shopping list, especially people who already have everything they need.

"This is a way to give them something that really counts and is unique and isn't duplicated," Kryger said. "For that hard-to-shop-for person, this is a sure-fire deal."

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