Ways to Give Back This Holiday Season

Today is Colorado Gives Day! Colorado Gives Day is an annual statewide movement to celebrate and increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving. Today, Tuesday, December 10th is the 10th Anniversary of Colorado Gives Day. Donations are accepted at ColoradoGives.org, a year-round, online giving website featuring more than 2,500 Colorado nonprofit organizations. Made possible by Community First Foundation, ColoradoGives.org encourages charitable giving by providing comprehensive, objective and up-to-date information about Colorado nonprofits and an easy way to support them online. Find a nonprofit to donate to here.

Other ways to give back this holiday season:

☆ Keep an eye out for A Precious Child Christmas tree’s throughout the area. Grab a tag, purchase your items and drop off your gifts for Precious Gift here: 7051 W. 118th Ave. Broomfield, CO 80020 or any of the locations at this link before Friday, December 20, 2019.

A Precious Child aims to provide underprivileged children with all the support and resources they need to empower their futures. The Precious Gift program collects donations of new toys, gifts and gift cards for the age range of infants through teenagers. Families who then shop the Resource Center of A Precious Child can then pick from these donated gifts. The need for gifts dramatically spikes during the holiday season, so they need all the help that they can get. You can donate, host your own drive, volunteer, be a sponsor and much more.

More information on how to donate can be found at their website.

☆ Help people locally or globally through the Giving Machine at the corner of 16th and Lawrence in downtown Denver. Choose from a blanket for the homeless, three meals for the hungry, a bar of soap, ten days of groceries, three chickens, or more. Some items cost a few dollars while others reach upwards of a few hundred.

GivingMachinesDenver.com says the machines are a “gift from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” and include the following nonprofits:

Four local charities:
Black Child Development Institute of Denver 
Catholic Charities of Denver 
Mile High Ministries 
Rose Andom Center 

Two international charities:
Water for People
CWS Global 

☆ Did you know that AmazonSmile is a program that donates 0.5% of your eligible purchases on Amazon to a charity of your choice? All you need to do is start your shopping at smile.amazon.com. The donation will be made at no extra cost to you and you can choose from nearly one million public charitable organizations. Read about how it works and how to get started here.

Happy Holidays and Happy Giving!

10 gifts that give back

The Christmas countdown is on!  With 14 days left, now is the time to tie up those loose ends and check everyone off your list.  We all have that one person who is extra difficult to buy for- they either have everything already or just don’t care much about gifts in general.  Consider getting them one of these great presents.  Not only are they unique and fun, but each one gives back in a different way!

  1.  Scratch Cards- Everyone’s a winner when they scratch off a LottoLove card ($20 for a pack of two). Instead of winning money for yourself, a charitable gift (weeks of clean water, months of solar energy, sets of literacy tools, or nutritious meals) is given to someone in need in your honor.

2.  Bare Soaps- Bare Soap‘s products are all-natural and handmade, and 20 percent of proceeds are invested in the company’s efforts to provide vitamins, vaccines, and soap to those in need. This Bare Soap Sampler Pack ($18) also gives villagers entrepreneurship opportunities.

3. Grounds & Hounds Coffee Co. gives back to animals by working with rescue organizations in your community. Twenty percent of all proceeds, including this Three-Blend Starter Kit ($44), go to a rescue partner closest to you.

4. State has an extensive collection of bags for everyone.  From backpacks to duffels, you can find what you need here.  The best part- for every bag you purchase, the company hand delivers a backpack filled with “essential tools for success” to an American child in need.  

5. With the mission to help artisans out of poverty through fashion and design, 31 Bits sells fairly made products like these brass Soma Bangles ($32), handmade by Javanese artisans in Bali.

6. Mitscoots Outfitters employs the transitioning homeless to package each and every blanket, like this Black and White Plaid Fleece Blanket ($49). With every purchase, one blanket is given to a shelter to help individuals in need.

7. Krochet Kids Intl. empowers women of Northern Uganda and Peru through jobs, education, and mentorship. Items like the Abby beanie ($24) provide a steady income for employees and help them to stay out of poverty.

8. Each bottle of One Hope Foundation’s wine is dedicated to a different cause. Every purchase of this Vintner Collection Cabernet Sauvignon ($25) helps provide ABA therapy to children with autism.

9. Socks are the #1 most requested clothing item at homeless shelters- this fact is the driving force behind Bombas.  Bombas exists to help solve this problem, to support the homeless community, and to bring awareness to an under-publicized problem in the United States.  For every purchased pair of Bombas Socks ($12), a pair is donated.  

10. Parks Project– each product purchased contributes directly to one of over 30 different conservancies across the USA, providing vital funding for the ongoing care of National Parks.  This ultra soft, lightweight Yosemite t-shirt helps fund the Yosemite Conservancy. The trails are the gateway to Yosemite’s wilderness, and with over 800 miles, that’s a lot to maintain. The Yosemite tee supports enhancing the visitor experience and helps preserve the parks’ trails for years to come. For each Yosemite product sold, one meter of trail is restored in the Park. ($36)