One week to "Black Friday" - what can we do differently on this massive consumption day?

[Sara Smiley Smith]

Hey Guys,

As many of you probably know, the Friday after Thanksgiving is known
as "Black Friday" marking the opening of holiday shopping and massive
amounts of material consumption. This probably doesn't sit well with
many of you, and if your like me, you may be wondering/looking for
ways to participate in the season of giving without making a lot more
stuff! Here are a few ideas to consider (a few ideas are taken from
Real Simple Magazine's Dec 2007 issue):

www.heifer.org - buy someone you love a sheep, a llama, or a share of
a water buffalo! Not only are this gifts entertaining, they do a lot
of good. Animals are given to recipients in countries around the
world to help improve families lives by providing food, wool, or the
ability to do work. You can also print out a card from heifer to
present to the recipient.

www.changingthepresent.org - a veritable charity smorgasboard of
giving options! Choose from categories like basic needs, community,
environment and health and safety to find all kinds of strong
choices.

www.markmakers.org - Here you essentially print out a gift card and
then the recipient gets to go back and choose who to give that amount
to. Specifically targeted to kids!

MJ..would this be interesting info to put on our website?

[MJ Truong]

Ooooh yes this is really neat stuff. In the mean time it would be nice
to have this in the blog... maybe when we get back from break!

On Nov 16, 3:18 pm, Sara Smiley Smith <sara.smileysm...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hey Guys,
>
> As many of you probably know, the Friday after Thanksgiving is known
> as "Black Friday" marking the opening of holiday shopping and massive
> amounts of material consumption. This probably doesn't sit well with
> many of you, and if your like me, you may be wondering/looking for
> ways to participate in the season of giving without making a lot more
> stuff! Here are a few ideas to consider (a few ideas are taken from
> Real Simple Magazine's Dec 2007 issue):
>

> www.heifer.org- buy someone you love a sheep, a llama, or a share of

> a water buffalo! Not only are this gifts entertaining, they do a lot
> of good. Animals are given to recipients in countries around the
> world to help improve families lives by providing food, wool, or the
> ability to do work. You can also print out a card from heifer to
> present to the recipient.
>

> www.changingthepresent.org- a veritable charity smorgasboard of

> giving options! Choose from categories like basic needs, community,
> environment and health and safety to find all kinds of strong
> choices.
>

> www.markmakers.org- Here you essentially print out a gift card and