Gifts That Give Back
Don’t feel like facing Christmas-shopping crowds? Then take your present buying online, with the help of these charities and social enterprises. Some of these gifts are wrappable – think handwoven bilum bags or Fair Trade coffee – others are done as donations, but all of them do their bit to make the world a better place.
The Older Women’s Network NSW
How you’re helping The Older Women’s Network (OWN) is an advocacy group for older women. Among other initiatives, they help fund affordable housing for women facing homelessness.
What to buy Make a donation to OWN NSW’s Buy a Brick campaign. A three-brick donation is $30, a 10-brick donation, $100.
One Girl
How you’re helping Australian not-for-profit One Girl funds education for girls in Sierra Leone as a way to break the cycle of poverty.
What to buy Pick up a One Girl tote bag, keep cup or singlet, or donate on behalf of a loved one. A $35 donation buys a stationery kit, while a $50 donation buys five pairs of school shoes.
SisterWorks
How you’re helping SisterWorks is a Melbourne-based social enterprise that supports female refugees and asylum seekers.
What to buy The SisterWorks website features a range of handmade items, including Alejandra’s Frida Kahlo Paper portraits on glass earrings ($30), Aussie bread bags ($29) and colourful $10 keyrings by Dinithi, a Sri Lankan woman who practices the art of paper quilling.
Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation
How you’re helping Founded by Australian doctors Reg and Catherine Hamlin, this Ethiopian foundation specialises in repairing obstetric fistulas suffered during childbirth.
What to buy Ethiopian handcrafted goods such as leather bags, cotton beach towels, scarves and unique earrings made from artillery shells; coloured wire baskets made in South Africa, homewares and jewellery. All proceeds go to the CHFF.
I=Change
How you’re helping This shopping site donates $1 to a charity of your choice – options include Womens Community Shelters, Thread Together, Plan Australia, Food Bank and The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation – whenever you make a purchase.
What to buy Choose from a huge range of clothing, skincare and accessories from brands including Manning Cartell, PE Nation, Nobody Denim and Pared Eyewear.
Among Equals
How you’re helping This not-for-profit supports women weavers in Papua New Guinea by bringing their wares to a global audience.
What to buy The patterns on these lovely bilum bags, made with natural and recycled fibres, reflect the province where they come from. Each bag can take up to six weeks to weave and prices start from $200.
If It Wasn’t For This Coffee…
How you’re helping Buy beans, pods or a keep cup from this social enterprise based in western Sydney and you are helping young at-risk people find employment.
What to buy Try the three-bean blend (sourced from Vietnam, Brazil and Uganda), or the Fairtrade and organic-certified blend made with traceable coffee from Peru and Indonesia.
Act For Peace
How you’re helping At Act For Peace, every donation supports a different project around the world.
What to buy Forty dollars gives a Zimbabwean farmer everything he or she needs to start beekeeping. For $28 a Syrian refugee can cultivate a kitchen garden and sell the excess; for $24 a woman in remote Pakistan can receive a sterile birthing kit; and $38 will supply an Afghani schoolgirl with paper, pencils, ruler, eraser and a hygiene kit.
Uncommon Goods
How you’re helping Uncommon Goods showcases handcrafted goods from around the world. Buy through their Better To Give program and $1 is donated to a Better To Give partner of your choice.
What to buy We love the range of funky, empowered-female goods, from shattered glass-ceiling rings and paperweights to suffragette coasters, great women of science pint glasses, a 19th amendment suffrage mug and a US women’s soccer puzzle.
Redbubble
How you’re helping More than 700,000 artists and designers sell their wares via Redbubble, which has now launched the #CreateSomeGood project to fund artistic projects that aim to make the world a better place.
What to buy Our favourite bargains include fantastic feminist message stickers (most are under $2), as well as T-shirts, phone cases, wall art and funky homewares.
Words_ Patricia Sheahan
Photo_ Keila Hotzel /Unsplash