Pay It Forward

Tis' the season for giving!  A friend of mine sent me an email today stating it is pay it forward day.  I wasn't aware that there was an official day named for the act of giving.  She passed on a special promotion Borders Bookstore is doing to help schools in crisis.  For any item you buy at Borders on Dec. 4 & 5 they will give you a $15 gift card to apply to www.donorschoose.org.  This site was also chosen as one of Oprah's Favorite Things.  You can donate any amount to a school in need.  If you look under projects it will list the school's location and the amount they are requesting.  They are basic needs that many school districts typically provide.  For those of you who saw Oprah's show on Waiting For Superman or read my past post, these are the schools they were referencing.  Another organization Oprah has featured on her show is Kiva at www.kiva.org .  They give loans to small business people from different countries.  They are similar to Donors Choose in that you can select the person you'd like to help.  You receive an email when loans are repaid to Kiva, and you can reinvest that money in another person.  I love the premise of this organization because it's about helping people help themselves.

Oprah featured a show awhile back with actress, Kristin Davis.  She talked about how she came across an orphaned elephant while on an African safari in Kenya.  She learned about the endangerment of elephants in Kenya and came across an organization that lets you become a foster parent for orphaned elephants. For a minimum of $50 you can become a foster parent for a year through the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org.  My daughter was watching the program with me at the time and thought it would be a really cool thing to do.  We aren't planning on going on a safari anytime soon and I doubt my neighbors would appreciate me housing an elephant.  Instead,  I let her pick out an elephant as part of her Christmas present.  She is now the proud parent of Chemi Chemi and can admire him from Kansas through email updates and photos.  This was a lot less expensive than an African safari and doesn't add to my already cluttered house.

There are many ways we can give this holiday season and it doesn't have to be a monetary gift.  There is the gift of time, love and attention.  Ironically, they are things that I find myself giving less of because of all of the shopping, baking, and other things on my to do list.