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The holiday season is over and it’s time to rummage through all that holiday booty. In my Christmas stocking this year was something I had never received before – a goat. Thinking, quite wrongly, that I was a man difficult to buy presents for, my hostess opted for an envelope that contained the ownership papers for a goat (“Goats for Peace” is the charity). Contained in the envelope was a blurb about my goat being a “revolving goat” – an animal that is shared by several families in communities rebuilding themselves. My goat, with the help of a “revolving ram,” would eventually provide kids for the entire community. The result: protein in the form of milk and cheese and fertilizer for the soil. Presumably, one or two of the offspring will even end up in a pot.

This was all quite a lot to absorb on top of a tummy full of turkey, Christmas fruit pudding and the odd glass of Christmas cheer. Luckily, I was not alone. My partner had been given a couple of acres of rainforest. Thinking we could escape the English winter bleakness and head for our new patch of tropical rainforest, perhaps even avail ourselves of some fresh goat’s milk while there, I looked in vain for the title to this patch of paradise. Unfortunately, they enveloped just a certificate entitling the “sponsor” to receive a free copy of the Rainforest Review magazine.

As it turns out, these charitable gifts are surging in popularity. Everything from ‘Bees for Development’ to ‘Sponsoring a War Child’ is on offer. It’s all a simple click away: the giver feels good while the receiver, well, feels bemused. Hopefully, the real beneficiary gets his or her goat and several acres of rainforest are saved from destruction.

You can even choose charitable gift ideas aimed closer to home. As one convert to the idea posted on the ‘Good Gifts Catalogue’ site (www.goodgifts.org):
“A really marvellous idea. Solves your present problems and does good at the same time. I would choose a bluebell wood for my grandsons as London children don’t get to walk in bluebell woods as much as I’d like.”
Lady Pitkeathley

My thoughts exactly, Lady Pitkeathley. I do miss walking in those bluebell woods.

It’s not only in the U.K. where these charitable gifts are booming. The same is happening here in the U.S. There are numerous websites functioning as brokers for so-called “feel-good” gifts. One site, lastminute.com, offers gift ideas such as Adopt a Polar Bear, Buy a Sheep (or a Goat), Destroy a Landmine, Adopt an Otter (with a free book!) and Buy a Bee Pack (to help an African farmer make a living). Another site, JustGive.org brings in $10 million dollar’s worth of donations a year with $3 million coming in over the holiday season. JustGive.org cites its success to Americans feeling overburdened at the holiday season and the fact that people have just too much “stuff.” As CEO and founder of JustGive.org, Kendall Webb states: “the increase (in this kind of gift) is, in part, a rejection of materialism.” For Awakening Consumers, this offers a great opportunity to attach some altruism to the gift-giving process.

For me, the thought of my goat has me wanting to drive over to my local WholeFoods to pick up some tasty Chèvre cheese.