By Kate Andrews
Are you planning to hit the doorbuster sales on Black Friday (or, as these events creep into Thanksgiving, Gray Thursday)? You may already have your game plan: dashing first to the electronics department, or maybe toward the toy section, depending on what you’re after. We want you to take a minute and consider buying some necessities for a child who won’t get a video game or an electric scooter for Christmas. She may be hoping for a mattress instead.
ChildFund International has its own gift guide for people in need around the world, with prices that can fit almost any budget. Plus, these gifts will make you — and others — feel good for much longer than a month. We’ve prepared some comparisons:
For $40, you can buy a Blu-ray player. Or for $35, you can purchase a “Mama Kit” for a pregnant woman in Uganda. This gift helps ensure that she will have a safer delivery with supplies that she can use during and after the birth of her child.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” is the most popular video game in the country right now. It costs about $60. A mattress, which can keep two small siblings from sleeping on a dirt floor in Ethiopia or Uganda, costs $39. The bedding is made locally, so you’re also helping the community’s economy.
Some of you may buy a piece of jewelry, say, a pair of diamond stud earrings, which are about $200 on sale. Consider feeding 30 orphans for a week in India. Cost: $120.
Furby is back, and it’s one of the most popular toys for this holiday season. These robotic plush toys are $60. For the same cost, you can purchase real animals that can help a family: six chickens for $58, or a pair of rabbits for $59. Children in Kenya raise the baby rabbits, which they sell. Often the money goes toward school supplies or other important needs.
Of course, you may be considering some high-ticket items. A tablet, perhaps, or a television? The newest version of the iPad costs about $500 on sale. A dairy cow costs $497, providing nourishment and income to a family in Ethiopia, the Philippines or Sri Lanka. A wheelchair for a child in Ethiopia costs $398.
A television can cost anywhere from $400 to $1,500 for a top-of-the-line LED TV with a 55-inch screen. Consider putting some money toward a hand pump that will provide water for an entire Indian village. Price tag: $1,429.
We at ChildFund want you to have a wonderful holiday season, with plenty of time with loved ones and good cheer. As you are giving thanks for your good fortune, we ask that you consider those who are in need. For more donation suggestions, please visit ChildFund’s Gifts of Love & Hope online catalog.
