21 Days of Gifts That Give: Charitable Gifts for Food Lovers {2014}

Give back this holiday season with #GiftsThatGive – there’s something for every food lover on your list!

A few years back, I started a list of #GiftsThatGive. Each day in December, I featured a new foodie type gift idea that was tied to food/hunger relief/culinary interests.

While several gift ideas I shared back then are still viable –> {2011} 24 Gifts That Give post <— I wanted to revive the spirit of this idea this year with some new suggestions (while including some old favorites.)

So, if you feel like sometimes the spirit of the holiday season gets lost in the hustle bustle of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the long list to Santa, check out these worthy gift ideas.

Each day this month up to December 21st, I’ll add another gift idea – here’s to making that gift list a bit more giving this year:

Day 1) Heifer International

Since I was a kid, my parents would wrap a photo of the animal they donated from the “the most important gift catalog in the world” for my sister and me to open Christmas Day. I continue to buy the gift of honeybees or “shares” of other animals each year.

About: “We believe all people deserve dignity, opportunity, and a future free from hunger. We believe we provide the tools of transformation to bring about that opportunity. We believe one cow can transform a life.”

Gift options: Your donation towards a goat, heifer, chicken, clean water, stoves (the list goes on) provides nourishment, self-reliance and source of income to needy families and a way to break out of poverty.

Donate an farm animal
Support sustainable farming
Provide basic needs
Empower women

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Day 2) Share Our Strength: No Kid Hungry Campaign

About: This campaign’s goal is to end children hunger in America by connecting kids in need with nutritious food and teaching families how to cook healthy, affordable meals.

Gift options: Holiday donation cards and a special Williams Sonoma Cutting Board

For the past few years, I’ve bought several of these cards and have attached them to homemade goodies for my daughter’s slew of teachers and therapists. And through The Recipe ReDux, this is a charity that Serena, Regan and I have donated to often over the years.

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 Day 3) Hot Bread Kitchen 

 

About: Hot Bread Kitchen is a non-profit that sells a line of multi-ethnic breads in order to increase access to the culinary industry for women and minority entrepreneurs.

If you live in the NYC area, you can buy their baked goods in person at these locations.

For the rest of us, gift options that they will ship include: Holiday Stollen, Flatbreads From Around the World and Global Market Bread Box.

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Day 4) Women’s Bean Project

I’ve lost track of how many years I’ve bought the soup mixes from this group but they are always a hit and it’s fantastic to see they are celebrating 25 years of helping women that need a little extra help to become empowered.

About: Women’s Bean Project is a nationally-recognized social enterprise that has created transitional employment in gourmet food and jewelry manufacturing for chronically unemployed and improvised women.

Gift options: All types of soup & chili mixes, baking mixes including gluten-free options, gift baskets and more (dog biscuits!) and even a line of jewelry. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 5) UNICEF Market

I was introduced to UNICEF at an early age by way of the Treat-or-Treating collection boxes. My parents still buy their Christmas cards through UNICEF. And in recent years, I’ve purchased unique home décor and kitchen accessories through their online store.

About: UNICEF Market is an online store for people shopping for unusual, well-designed and beautifully crafted items. Part of the proceeds goes to both the artisans and to saving children’s lives around the world through nutrition provisions, vaccinations and many more support programs.

Gift options: Cards, jewelry, toys, tableware, linens, baskets and so much more like this cool karma bottle set. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 6) FARM AID 

About: First put together by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp in 1985, Farm Aid is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land.

Gift options: Water bottles, grocery bags, ornaments, t-shirts, fruit & veggie onsies and my personal favorite: these Homegrown cards. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 7) Baking For Good

About: Baking For Good is an online bakery that deliveries homemade goodies to your door and gives 15% of profits to a cause that you choose.

Gift options: All sorts of baked good mixes and cookies including Instagraham Cookies made from IG photos! SHOP –> here.

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 Day 8) Water.org

Sobering fact: Close to 1 BILLION people around the world lack access to clean water. Think about that for just a minute.

About: Co-founded by Gary White and Matt Damon 20 years ago, Water.org pioneers safe water and long-term sanitation solutions globally which, in turn, transforms lives and gives communities a future.

Gift option: A special edition CamelBak Groove water bottle where $10 from every bottle purchased goes to Water.org (alas Matt Damon not included in purchase.)

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 Day 9)  ONEHOPE Wine

About: Produced in production with Rob Mondavi, Jr., ONEHOPE’s winning portfolio of wines makes an impact by donating half of the profits for every bottle sold to a variety of health, animal, environmental, educational and military causes.

Gift options: Red, wine and sparkling wines along with gift sets. SHOP –> here.
And for non-alcoholic gifts, check out ONEHOPE Social Impact Coffee.

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 Day 10) Imagine Goods 

About: Started by two women, Imagine Goods partners with creative yet marginalized people – often survivors from human trafficking – to make products giving fair wages that, in turn, provide the means to basic healthcare, education and nutritious meals for their families.

Gift options: Gorgeous aprons (kids’ sizes too!), tablecloths, runners and beautiful hand-sewn items beyond the kitchen (like skirts, dresses, messenger bags and more.) SHOP –> here.

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 11) All Across Africa

About: All Across Africa creates market-driven employment opportunities to improve and empower the lives of rural and poor people across Africa. The artisans are showcased here.

Gift options: Gorgeous & colorful kitchen items such as woven baskets, table runners, placemats, trays and much more. SHOP –> here

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 Day 12) TOMS coffee

About: TOMS is known for its One for One philosophy, for every pair of footwear or eyeglasses purchased, the company donates a pair of shoes or eyeglasses to someone in need.

This year they launch TOMS Roasting Co. and with every bag of coffee purchased, TOMS donates one week of water to a person in need.

Gift options: 8 different roasts offer in mild, medium or dark. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 13) Equal Exchange 

About: Equal Exchange’s mission is to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound. Their farmer partners own the coop which helps contribute to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.

Gift options: Coffee, teas, cocoa, chocolate and an expanding line of Fair Trade foods like olive oil, spreads and fruit/nut bars. Also available are gift baskets, business gifts and wholesale options. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 14) Ten Thousand Villages

There’s a running joke in my family that if my mom has bought a gift, it’s probably from a Ten Thousand Villages store. But all joking aside, I have found numerous unique gifts, home décor and kitchen goods over the years – all while supporting free trade.

About: Since 1946, Ten Thousand Villages has been working with artisian partners from around the world to offer a multitude of beautiful items at close to 400 retail stores and online. They are one of the largest fair trade organizations in the world.

Gift options: A huge array of kitchen and dining items including bowls, trays, linens, mugs, teapots, utensils and much more. SHOP –> here.

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  Day 15) Cookies for Kids’ Cancer

About: Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a non-profit raising funds for research to develop new, improved treatments for pediatric cancer, the #1 disease killer of children in the U.S. The organization supports individuals, businesses and organizations by hosting grassroots bake sales and other fundraising events.

Gift options: 10 gourmet cookie flavors including Dark Chocolate Cranberry to Lemon Sugar. Cookie of the Month Club options, too. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 16) Shopping for a Change

About: The nonprofit Shopping for a Change was developed to empower talented artisans, predominantly women, and their impoverished communities, with means to transform their standards of living in economically sustainable ways. The nonprofit pays the artisans up front for their creations.

Gift options: Beautiful, eco-friendly kitchenware items including placemats, coasters, napkins, bowls and cutting boards. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 17) Faucet Face

 

About: Through Faucet Face’s 1 for 100 program, the company donates 5% of all profits along with water filters to the clean water charity, Third Millennium Awaking (TWA), who employs locals in India to create water filters and distribute to families in need.

Gift options: Unique individual glass bottles for carrying tap water – an array of designs including custom design options. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 18) Yum-o

About: Launched in 2006 by Rachael Ray, the nonprofit Yum-o! organization empowers kids and their families to develop healthy relationships with food and cooking by teaching families to cook, feeding hungry kids and funding cooking education and scholarships.

Gift options: A huge array of cookware, kitchen tools, tableware, chef knives, cookbooks and even gourmet foods for every budget. SHOP –> here.

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 Day 19) Askinosie Chocolate

About: One of the few bean to bar chocolate companies in the country, Askinosie shares profits with cocoa bean farmers by paying above fair trade prices. The company also facilitates giving-back programs in Tanzania, Honduras, and Equador where beans are sources; including this school lunch program in the Philippians

Gift options: Chocolate hot cocoa rounds plus a wide variety of creatively flavored chocolate bars (like Dark Chocolate-Coconut Sugar-Toasted Coconut) premium baking chocolate, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, and even chocolate spread. SHOP–> here.

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 Day 20) Oxfam America Unwrapped

About: Oxfam America is a global organization working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger and injustice working with over 90 countries to achieve these goals.

Gifts options: The Oxfam Unwrapped site features gifts for every price range from everything from a tribe of goats, to helping plant a vegetable garden, to a dozen chicks or to school meals – the giving list is abundant.

And they offer eCards and downloadable cards for last minute gift shopping. SHOP –>here.

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 Day 21) KIND Snacks

Disclosure: I’ve worked with KIND for years because I love their products with the tag line of “ingredients you can see & pronounce” – and their philosophy of doing random acts of kindness along with their charitable giving spirit.

About: Founded in 2004 with just 8 bar varieties, KIND Snacks has expanded their line of healthy, tasty, non-GMO based products to a multitude of snack options. And each month, KIND supports one cause with $10,000 as suggested by their customers.  

Gift options: Last minute stocking stuffers with their line of Fruit & Nut, Nut & Spice, STRONG & KIND (savory) and Healthy Grains bars. Available nationwide at these stores or SHOP –> here.