Great Christmas gift ideas that give back
Give to your community when you give to your loved ones!
It’s that time of year where the Christmas gift guides start dropping and we become immersed in the hyper-consumerism of Christmas. Many of you, like me - will be exhausted by the year and daunted by the idea of Christmas shopping when there’s not much money around.
Here are easy gifts for you to buy that give in many ways. They’re kind gifts, sustainable gifts, and community gifts. You don’t have to spend a boatload - and it will not add to landfill. You also don’t need to brave The Warehouse to buy them.
You could also make a donation to the The Joy Store. The Joy Store, run by The Kindness Collective, provides families with the gift of kindness and dignity of choice, which everyone deserves. This year they aim to provide 10,000 children who are living in hardship with toys and treats. Find out more about it here. You can also sponsor a family’s Christmas presents or food box!
Give the gift of a meal out and support restaurants and cafes doing it tough - The Restaurant Association Gift Voucher can be used at over 1000 Restaurant Association member establishments throughout New Zealand.
First aid training is a practical gift that could save lives.
Spend on small businesses. Buy an SOS Business voucher. It’s an inKind initiative that encourages locals to spend on small businesses across Aotearoa.
Give a cash card, soap, a hand loom, a seat at the table or even a goat with Oxfam and you’ll also be fighting against poverty and injustice. Your Christmas Chair, Goat, Cash Card or Cows doesn’t just help one family improve their opportunities, the ripple effect that comes from that steady income, education and good health goes on to ignite lasting changes in the social structures and democratic processes of the entire community.
Donate a Project Jonah World of Whales Educational Teaching Kit to the school the child in your life attends.
Le Va's purpose is to support Pasifika families and communities to unleash their full potential. A $10 donation could provide Pasifika-language resources to three families.
Give a child in need a book this Christmas and make the book-loving person in your life happy! Make a donation and Kiwi Christmas Books will send you an e-card to give. “For many (children) this was their first ever book, for some, it was their first ever Christmas present.”
Gift a family time this Christmas with Ronald McDonald House. Help families feel at home, even when they can’t be.
The Wellington Women’s House provides low-cost, temporary housing for women on low incomes or in transition. For $150 you can provide a housewarming kit, with essential items a woman needs to move into a new home; or heating and electricity for one to two weeks to ensure women feel safe and warm, and stay healthy. You can also give a driving lesson for $75 or a special gift.
When people donate to Trees That Count, the community organisation matches their funded trees with planters to get more natives into the ground. A $10 native tree is the perfect thoughtful, waste-free gift.
For the sport loving person in your life, donate to The WaterBoy. With your help, The WaterBoy is breaking down barriers to give young people an opportunity to participate in sport.
Give the good bitch in your life a voucher for Good Bitches Baking Trust - they’re a network of people who give beautiful cakes and baked goods to those in their communities who are having a tough time.
Get these great tees and 100% of the profit of every one you purchase from Morkins and Co. will be donated to an organisation which supports kaupapa Māori.
Buy something from the amazing Alphabet Book Club. With every book purchased, a portion is donated to nonprofit groups that are looking after our Queer, Trans, Intersex and Takatāpui family.
My son loves Jane Goodall so I’m giving a donation on his behalf to the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand. By supporting JGINZ you will help kiwi kids participate in Roots & Shoots. It’s a group creating an informed and compassionate critical mass of environmentalists who will help to create a better world for people, other animals and our shared home, taking action on local sustainability issues.
Help the victims of family violence by booking a room for someone you’ll never meet, in a place you’ll hopefully never visit - gift a Safe Night at Women’s Refuge.
Donate a wānanga with Whenua Warrior. Whenua Warrior can clean up current garden spaces, and provide a family with two garden boxes, seedlings, soil, organic manure, and a six-hour wānanga at the receiver’s home.
Give $10 and pay for tea, coffee and biscuits at a RASNZ refugee women's empowerment group, which provides a space for women from refugee backgrounds to gather, share and support one-another. $100 covers the cost of a youth worker for 5 hours, providing vital cultural and emotional support to refugee children and teenagers.
Give the anti-vaxxer in your life this vaccine bundle - Children all around the world require vaccines to protect them from preventable diseases. This gift packed with 260 vaccines will protect children against tetanus, polio, measles, tuberculosis and more. OR Go Give One is a COVID-19 fundraising campaign with no borders. Created by the WHO Foundation, the campaign calls on everyone, everywhere to play their part in helping to vaccinate the world. Donate $5 to give a Covid 19 vaccine in The money raised goes to the Gavi COVAX AMC, which funds COVID-19 vaccines for lower-income countries, helping protect those who need vaccines the most.
Friends with a musician? MusicHelps provides assistance to the music community through a tailored, professional online, on-the-phone and face-to-face counselling service and emergency financial assistance to music workers experiencing hardship due to illness, injury and/or significant misfortune.
Want to let your giftee choose who to give to? Easy as. The Good Registry has 65 New Zealand charity partners, so there's always a gift for everyone. If you buy gift cards from the registry they’re emailed to you straight away. Good for the community. Good for the environment. Good for everyone.
Finally, why not give a gift subscription for a Substack newsletter? It’s a hard time for writers - we don’t get sick leave or holiday leave and lots of people quit their subs at Christmas to save money. It’s just $8 a month (less if you get an annual sub) to subscribe to my newsletter. For that you get 3x posts a week. What a bargain! 12 posts for $8! Or if you’d prefer you can just give a one-off koha.
Other great Substack writers to support:
The Bulletin (become a member of The Spinoff to support NZ media), Nadine Anne Hura (indigenous storytelling), The End is Naenae (social commentary), Sounds Good! (music, books, reviews), YeeHaw The Boys (awesome comics, illustrations), Webworm (David Farrier), The Audacity (Roxane Gay), More Than A Feilding (David Slack), The Kākā by Bernard Hickey (business), Alice’s Soapbox (sport), Earthside by Lou (queer social commentary).
Please share any other ethical, kind, cool gifts in the comments! I’m taking a break from Facebook so I’d love it if you could share this post if you like it. Thank you!
Great ideas. Also if I may, I don't want to take away from the really cool giving ideas suggested, but please consider supporting your small independent retailers? Our businesses are doing it tough. My own wee shop, Made Marion Craft on Cuba St, is a haven of friendly service and gentle Christmas music (only after 1 December - before that, I don't get a say!). We employ four amazing local humans, and support a bunch of community initiatives and local artists. <3
Thank you!!! Me whole family are getting vaccine donations now 👍🏼