Gifts that keep on giving

by Richard L. Weaver II

One of the most memorable Christmas gifts my wife and I received last year was a CD a relative put together from his collection of classical music he enjoyed listening to the most. When we played his CD we were not only impressed, but we could easily understand why he liked the music and why he thought others might enjoy it as well. We have played the CD many times since receiving it — truly a gift that keeps on giving.

This time of year causes most everyone to rack his or her brain in search of “the perfect gift” for friends and family. Even when you find a present that seems right, you run the risk of just giving more unwanted clutter. And, if you’re like we are, there is more than enough of that! The other possibility, of course, is that there is someone on your list for whom any run-of-the-mill gift won’t do. Then what?

It doesn’t take much imagination to buy handkerchiefs, ties, and electronic games at the mall or the nearest big-box store. These are the kinds of gifts that fulfill our obligation to exchange presents, but they don’t speak from the heart like some of the gifts of love that follow. There are numerous possibilities.

For those of you reading this who might be concerned about having fewer pretty, wrapped gifts under the tree, there is no reason why any of the following possibilities could not be wrapped just like any other gift, with an appropriate description and explanation boxed within.

I have divided these gift alternatives into three groups: donations, preserving family (or friendship) images, and gift certificates.

Donations

To make a donation on another’s behalf to an organization that helps others all year long is to give a gift that keeps on giving, and here are some possibilities. Architecture for Humanity provides architects around the world with opportunities to create environmentally sustainable temporary shelters in developing and disaster-stricken countries (www.architectureforhumanity. org). America’s Wetland: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana seeks to reverse 75 years of wetland deterioration along Louisiana’s coastline and barrier islands. This is a habitat for over 5 million migratory waterfowl (www.americaswetland.com).

Other sources for potential donations include Heifer International. It helps families around the world by providing the tools, supplies, and training to plant trees, keep topsoil in place on farms, grow fruit for food, and provide firewood for cooking and heat in winter. Also, it raises livestock, donates animals to poor families, and educates communities on how to sustain agrarian economies in an effort to alleviate world hunger and promote environmental health and sustainability (www.heifer.org). Trickle Up provides seed capital for start-ups or expansions and business training to women especially, from Niger to the U.S.A. (www.trickleup.org). Throughout Africa, Keep A Child Alive provides HIV/AIDS medications and grants for constructing and staffing medical clinics (www.keepachildalive.org). John Denver’s Plant-It 2020 plants, maintains, and protects indigenous trees in forests and urban areas all over the world (www.plantit2020.org).

Preserving Family Images

Scan photos, negatives, and slides to create CDs and DVDs of everyone’s favorites. You can do this yourself, or you can have professionals complete the process for you. If you package up your photographs, negatives, and slides, you can send them off to ScanCafe (www.ScanCafe.com) where technicians will manually scan and retouch all of your photos and post them in a secure online library for you to view. You don’t even have to pre-sort the images. ScanCafe will charge you only for the images you wish to keep (with a minimum fifty percent commitment). After selecting the images you wish to keep, you will be returned all the original photos along with a CD or DVD of your digital images.

ScanCafe will perform touch ups like color correction, cropping, and dust and stain removal. Additional services include black and white negative and slide scanning and more extensive restoration for severely damaged images. This is a great way to preserve your family or friendship images forever, and not only does it make a memorable holiday gift, it is a gift that keeps on giving.

Gift Certificates

Buy a set number of sessions at a local massage therapist, and arrange with the therapist to have prepaid “relaxation reminders” sent throughout the year. Another possibility is to award a “good for one free massage” certificate with yourself as the hands-on healer.

Another gift certificate possibility is to arrange with your favorite florist to send a fresh bouquet on a preselected occasion every month. Even mix in balloons, fruit baskets, and stuffed toys.

Mystery “surprise” gift certificates might ask recipients to clear their calendar for one day or weekend every month. Anticipation, of course, can work magic. One day, or weekend, each month plan a surprise that might include tickets to see an entertainer or theatrical production, a balloon ride, a surprise weekend getaway at Lake Tahoe or Branson, Missouri, or a sunset, dinner cruise on a local lake or river.

There could be “Good Health Gift Certificates” as well which would include pre-paid visits to a family physician, dentist, dermatologist, podiatrist, gynecologist, or other health professional. It could be, too, to pay for insulin, high blood pressure medication, or other life-saving drugs.

Gift certificates could be given for a free day at the spa, for the full treatment at a local beauty salon, for a trial membership at the local gym, or to purchase groceries at the local health food store. How about adding a personal touch for someone you love, and give them a gift certificate for a mammogram, eye exam, or prostate screening that you will attend with them?

It is true that all of these are practical, utilitarian suggestions. We cannot give gifts of inner joy or lifelong peace, but we can wish others a lifetime filled with joy and peace and whether wrapped in gold-leaf paper and tied up in bows or not, these may be the real gifts that keep on giving.




Contact Richard L. Weaver II

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