Give a Gift of Lasting Change with CARE

Throughout my recent 4 Gifts posts I have encouraged making charitable giving a priority this Christmas season. Today, I am honored to be able to share with you an organization that creates lasting change through their important work. Work that dates back to 1945. Please, take a moment to watch this video, and then I will share with you why this is so important to me.

Becoming a mother changed me. It has changed the way I see so many things. It has made the struggles of mothers worldwide even more real.. It has put faces on the children they are trying to build a healthy and happy life for. I see the faces of my own two precious little boys on these children now, and I want to help. 

I can help. YOU can help. We can make a difference. 

This holiday season you can give a gift of lasting change to people who really need it. While we spend time baking cookies and planning special meals for our friends and neighbors this year, we can provide cooking classes that will give much more than just a special meal...

Learning a marketable skill can be a crucial step in overcoming poverty. CARE's support of vocational education often goes hand in hand with teaching basic literacy, numeracy, life skills and business skills. This, plus access to savings and credit options, enables learners, especially women, to launch successful small enterprises. (Photo credit: CARE)

While we are shopping for gifts for our own precious children, imagining the joy on their faces as they open them, we can also send a gift that will bring pure joy to children across the world. Gifts like soccer balls: 

For millions of children around the world, joy is round. CARE provides real, durable soccer balls for kids, allowing them to replace the makeshift banana leaf balls and lopsided wads of taped rags they often use for soccer. A ball is a great gift for an energetic child and their friends who enjoy the world's most popular sport. (Photo credit: CARE)

While we are snuggling up with cups of cocoa to share our favorite Christmas books with our little ones, we can know that we have given the gift of books to refugee children who will treasure them as well: 

Among the millions forced from their homes to live in refugee camps are hundreds of thousands of children who can no longer attend school. CARE works to equip refugee camps (e.g., in Jordan) with libraries so kids can read and study so that when the war ends they resume their education more easily - and build a better future for themselves and their families. (Photo credit: CARE)

Perhaps you would rather provide something more practical, like medical supplies, emergency kits or livestock. There is such a wide variety of gifts available through CARE that you can be sure you will find the one that touches your heart or makes the perfect gift to give on behalf of someone this year. 

(Photo credit: CARE)

The process is simple! Choose a gift (or several!) from their catalog to include in your symbolic care package. Print or email a card to the friend or family member you are giving the gift on behalf of. Rest assured that this is one gift that will make a lasting change for people who truly need it.