Teacher’s Gifts are Bought & We Helped Children In Need #PlanGOH

We are preparing for some major home renovations here which means we’ve been clearing out a TON of unnecessary items within our home to make space. Recently I found myself in my daughter’s bedroom, surrounded by a kajillion toys, bedding and clothes and it hit me how fortunate we are. With the various pink, fluffy and blingy things being sorted into their appropriate places…my mind drifted to the images I’ve seen of children across the world who go without amenities which I’d consider the basics of living. This feeling seems to hit me each year as Christmas and our 2 daughters’ birthdays approach, an urgent need to give back to someone who needs it.

We live in an environment where we have food, housing, clothing, water and well, let’s get real we are provided for. In the event that a family in our community falls upon hard times we have government assistance. Now this isn’t always perfect, but we have the ability to access help when so many others in the world just don’t.

Plan Canada’s Gift of Hope Catalogue

If you’re looking for a way to give back, check out Plan Canada’s Gifts of Hope collection, which is an ethical gift-giving program that gives twice: here and abroad. Gifts of Hope provides gifts that truly matter. A gift like school essentials or literacy for 2 women, or a gift that leads to a livelihood and the ability to provide for a family, like a goat.

Instead of buying gifts for our children’s teachers or friends we are buying Gifts of Hope this year. The gifts begin at just $10 and there is a large variety of choices.

Chelsea chose to buy school essentials for one child as soon as she realized that not all children get to go to school.

Chelsea’s teacher will be receiving a greeting card, telling her teacher why she chose this gift for her. The card is being mailed to us so she can include a personal message.

Sydney’s teacher’s gift is girls’ take home rations which will help girls get an education by giving essential food items like cooking oil and grains  to parents each month if their daughter attends school .

Ordering was super-simple, I just made my choices, entered in my pertinent info and made my payment. They take Paypal or Visa or Mastercard.

Matched Gifts

One of the things I appreciated when I was browsing the gift choices is that many gifts are in a category titled “Matched Gifts”.  When a matched gift is chosen, the donation is matched by a government, foundation or organizational partner, giving more children the gift of hope, helping more families live better lives, and transforming more communities. Chelsea’s gift was a donation of $17 and was match 6X for a value of $119!!

Visit Plan Canada’s Gifts of Hope website to find out more about matched gifts.

In all, there are over 40 gifts to choose from, each one will benefit people who really need it. You can find Gifts of Hope at plancanada.ca/GiftsofHope

Join Me

So what do you think, will you join me in doing giving meaningful gifts which help someone here and abroad this year?