Making this season a festive one...

I read $700 is the average amount people are spending on Christmas gifts per person this year (based on Black Friday projections) I feel a little sick to my stomach.

You see, I’ve been to Haiti, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Belize, where a family lives on our equivalent of $20 a month. I’ve seen the shanty towns in South Africa where women are terrified their young daughters will be raped one day because local superstition if a man infected with AIDS can be cured by “being with” an “untouched” girl.

I know the stories of whole communities dying because they don’t have clean water.

And I know each of the scenarios could be solved, the emotional and physical poverty could disappear with a fraction of that $700 we’re averaging per person for gifts.

Here is a list of organizations (in no particular order) you could divert a bit of your Christmas purchasing money toward. I dare you to do it. I guarantee it will be more practical and effective than a new iTouch or a tool chest.

1. Sevenly. Through selling the “T-shirt of the week” they fund other organizations. Last week they sold the coolest T-shirt… the revenue went to trafficking victims (little girls) in Nepal.

2. Edesia, a nonprofit in Rhode Island. They produce Plumpy’nut – a miracle food for starving children. Plumpy’nut was invented by a French doctor in the 1990s. It is made of peanuts and other natural ingredients, and is high in all needed nutrients. It’s incredibly efficient to deliver in poor countries, because it lets the parents treat the child at home. Organizations like Doctors Without Borders are fans.

The best way to envisage Plumpy’nut is to imagine a soft packet of peanut butter paste. Each packet costs 33 cents to make — about a third the cost of a chocolate bar in your local store. A box contains 150 packets — enough for three portions a day for seven weeks. That’s enough to take a starving child from death’s door back to normal health.

3. The Hunger Site. Just clicking through their site provides income to feed people around the world, shopping and purchasing items through them makes your money go even further.

4. Trade as One. Their mission? To use fair trade to promote sustainable business and break cycles of poverty and dependency in the developing world. We all have a conscience. We want to make sure people get the chance to use it when they shop.

5. World Vision. You could buy a goat for a family. And that little nanny-goat could provide a piece of hope for that family that cannot be understood by our privileged minds. Besides, who would like to say, “I gave chickens for Christmas?”

6. TOMS. TOMS has established credibility over the years by donating one pair of shoes to fight poverty for every pair sold. They’re expanding their offerings… and you can help.

7. Divine Chocolate. Chocolate that makes a difference. Can there be anything better??

 8. 147million orphans. A company started by two moms with some cool products.FEEDACHILD Chat | 1 Online

9. Hello Somebody. All the money raised on this website goes to feed/educate the street boys in Rwanda. Their mission is to feed and educate children, by providing an avenue of knowledge, in order to break the cycle of poverty and hunger within their generation.

10. Change Your Own World. There are ways we can be a part of people’s lives right where we live.  Could you spring for another turkey or ham to donate to your local shelter? How about the family down the way who just lost a job? Maybe you could prepare some dry goods for Crock Pot meals. Beans, celery, cans of tomato and potatoes aren’t that expensive.

There are a thousand ways you can change the world if you think about it. I fell in love with the ideas from this article, 10 Small Ways To Make The World A Better Place. Why don’t you try doing three or four of his suggestions?