Tis the season for gratitude, and we’re grateful for the give back gifts that offer sustainable options to help others, support good causes and let us skip long lines.
Put one of these give back gifts on your holiday list. Accelerate the journey towards a more sustainable future this holiday season.
Fund Wildlife Conservation around the World
A friend whose daughter is in love with snowy owls discovered that the Sierra Club offers snowy owls and bison among their collection of virtual animal adoptions ($49 and up often includes a plush toy). Discover your own adoptable tarantula or honey bee. If you can’t choose, let the next family vacation drive the decision. Protect an armadillo, for example, if you’re heading for Big Bend National Park in Texas.
Explore opportunities to help protect other endangered animals with the World Wildlife Fund. In addition to research, they sell wonderful gifts that give back. For $25 and up, your family funds a Symbolic Adoption that helps conserve an elephant, polar bear, tiger, orca, panda, snow leopard or other species. At the $60 level and higher, WWF will send adorable plush replicas of the adopted animals.
The koala population has been declining in Australia due to the loss of habitat, bushfires, disease and domestic dog attacks. Fortunately, Koala Conservation Australia Limited of New South Wales rehabilitates these cute animals when they’re found sick or injured. Their Adopt-A-Wild-Koala e-program starts at A$50. Donate a bit more (A$80 for overseas families) to receive a story about your specifically chosen koala, a booklet about koalas and more. If you’re on your way to Australia, select an ‘Exhibit Koala’ so you can visit them in the hospital. Adoption money helps treat and rehabilitate koalas with the goal of releasing them back to the wild.
Give Back Gift to the Oceans
Adopt a sea turtle or manatee — or an Orca, for those who think big. It’s the ideal gift that gives back to marinelife lovers and the world’s oceans. The non-profit organizations that raise money by selling symbolic adoptions run many real life events and educational programs year round.
Adopt-A-Sea Turtle gifts animal lovers with a personalized Adoption kit and plush toy ($56) from the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Once adopted, follow the turtles they are tracking by satellite. Plus, teens may be interested in opportunities to volunteer in Costa Rica or Panama as a research assistant. The STC has done this important work for more than 50 years.
Why not Adopt-A-Manatee for just $25? Save the Manatee was co-founded by the late Jimmy Buffett, singer, songwriter, marine life activist and hotel owner, who championed their cause. STM also promotes sustainable and eco-tourism events around central Florida. At many of their programs, see the creatures up close. You may even meet your adoptee.
Washington state’s Adopt-an-Orca program is run by the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands. Select the Orca of your choosing from the three pods living offshore. Invest $50 and up per year to find out how they’re doing and learn much more about this unusual breed. Contributors get a free yearlong membership to the museum and 10% off at their gift shop.
Support People’s Lives with Gifts that Give Back
Support nonprofit groups whose work represents an incredible give back gift for all ages. Recipients say that even a greeting card with a powerful story is well worth receiving.
Oxfam America is a nonprofit organization committed to ending the injustice of poverty. At Oxfam, make a donation to fund the purchase of any number of items. Your $60 gift trains a local volunteer to be a community health care worker. Fund the construction of an emergency toilet for $250 or give $510 towards a cash-for-work program for six months. Recipients receive an e-card describing the contribution.
Heifer International is charitable organization that donates livestock, poultry, agricultural products and more to support people around the world. Their online holiday marketplace is also full of hand-crafted ornaments and toys (from $15) and sustainably farmed items. Hear moving stories about donated heifers ($500) that helped families build new houses, a goat ($120) that provided warm milk for children, and a flock of chickens ($20) that fed them. Partial contributions from $10 and up are pooled with others to fulfill these needed gift items and to support educational programs in lesser developed regions.
Kids to Kids Direct Giving
Help your child give a gift to another child through Save the Children, for an incredible bonding moment. Choose from an online catalogue of ‘gifts’ ranging from $15 (one soccer ball) and up. Hospital essentials, for example, include sterilization materials, cleaning supplies, blankets and fuel for generators. This charity lets you focus your donations on relief and emergency funding, at home or overseas.
Support many other worthwhile groups in person by signing up your family for a volunteer vacation next year. Read our “How to Volunteer” guide before planning that special trip.
Give Back Sites & Auctions for Good
To raise money for a variety of causes, upcoming projects, and non-profits, the online auctioneers at Bidding For Good can’t be beat. Schools, youth groups and other non-profits use their Commerce for Charity system to upload donated Major League Baseball tickets, Paris walking tours, collectible Barbie dolls or Amazon gift cards so everyone can take part in the worthwhile bidding process.
Want to give back with your child through a family donation? Among many sites out there, the educator-founded DonorsChoose.org allows families to pick what type of school project, field trip, sports team, activity or need they want to support. Search together through the collection of actual requests made by teachers around the United States.
Don’t use this holiday to give another unwanted gift that will soon be forgotten. Instead, help a good cause and let your child (or your nanny, or your neighbor, or your boss) take part in a kinder world.
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A destiny I will never forget.
This was by far, the best vacation I have ever been on. I hope be awarded the scholarship so that I can go on to college, graduate with honors, and get a great job so that one day I can show my family what a great place Yellowstone National Park is. Thank you for considering my application!
I hope you enjoy my essay. Thank you for your time.
My favorite city so far!
It's such a beautiful place!
my trip.
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for checking out my blog. 🙂 I hope you enjoy.
With Much Appreciation,
– Zoe McDowell
hello
I have run short on space, yet I managed to squeeze in about 3/4ths of my trip.
Lordsburg and Demming are in New Mexico (I guess I should have edited that), and there are numerous other details I would have liked to have included….
If you're interested in traveling in my footsteps, I highly recommend the Togwotee Lodge and Resort, which is where we stayed during our trip.
While visiting Paris the summer I was fourteen, I was captivated my by its beauty. The city's rich culture, diverse people, and turbulent history fascinated me and captured my imagination. It was there that I discovered the wonder of adventure, and my never-ending love of Paris.
this is my actual scholarship submission. PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE THE PREVIOUS ENTRY. THIS IS MY SUBMISSION. THANK YOU.
This was the most incredible vacation ever! All my classmates who attended agreed and have remembered every memory from Washington D.C. Thank you School Tours of America and my special sponsors Mrs. Nobel and Mr. Fitch.
My trip to new york was wonderful. I even c reated a website to prove it.
http://nothinglikenewyork.shutterfly.com/
I almost did not go on this trip, worrying about what could go wrong, that summer would nearly be over when I returned, and how much it cost. But, I decided to take this trip to see a few of my German friends and their families, not knowing when, otherwise, I would see them again if I didn't take this opportunity. Now that I have returned home, I am very happy to have taken this trip.
My name is Inemesit Effiong.I am an avid reader and an ardent Colin Firth fan. I love outdoor activities, writing poetry, and volunteering. I have had the privilege of volunteering with several clubs like National Honor Society, Rotary Club, Interact Volunteer Club, and The Bridge Run. I enjoy watching Jeopardy with my father (mostly because of Alex Trebek) and I hope to pursue Nursing as a major. I entered this contest because I love exploring and I fell that my experience is very relatable, especially to teenagers my age, who would like to travel abroad, but lack the means or opportunity to do so.
This is a blog about my trip with my mother to New York City
I encourage you, go on a mission trip! You will never regret it. If anything it can help you to figure out your place in this world.
I raised money for this trip during the course of my Freshman year, first by a Bake Sale, which raised over $700, then by giving out poetry that I had written in exchange for donations. They expereince broadened me as a leader and created lasting friendships with other cultures.
This was my Italian experience. It was extremely fun and I can’t wait for the time when I get the chance to return.
Hope you enjoyed my essay! Just wanted to share my beliefs and personal experience. 🙂
Hopefully you can enjoy my post! It's what I believe and is my own personal experience. 🙂
My scholarship entry!
Im glad to share my families trip with you. I hope this inspires you to go on a trip with your family to Hawaii.
My vacation to Spain in general was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. The culture was rich and the archetecture was far more ornate than anything I've ever seen in the United States. I will defenately go back there some day if I am fortunate enough.
This particular blog was submitted as a scholarship essay to myfamilytravels.com, enjoy!
I truly am grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had to travel to Hong Kong for a month! I'll definitely think about living in Hong Kong in the future!
I hope people can read this travel blog and see for themselves how great the aftermath of war is. Because of war, these children have to suffer every single day. ):
This blog was very fun to write, it let me reevaluate what had happened during the trip and laugh about it once again. Maybe it will inspire someone else to do what what my family did and go through the indescribable little horrors that we all went through. Happy traveling!
If you have ever wondered what a BIG city is, than New York City is the place for you to go! i had a blast there! Check it out!!
I had alot of fun writing this essay.
Europe is a great place to visit!
it looks cool!
Here is my scholarship for the Teen Travel Writing Scholarship of my journey to Alaska!
My trip to London.
I discovered that I was a pretty good photographer while on this trip. I now take all the family vacation pictures!
My trip to Yellowstone was truly amazing! Yellowstone is a must-see for all nature lovers and hikers!
The wedding took place on August 6, 2011.
this was a wonerful trip with friends & family
My experience was amazing here!
My essay describes the emotional connection to the effects of a storm which would seemingly ruins a trip to Lake Michigan.
I wish I could have written more about Germany, but summing up a vacation such as that in only 600 words seemed impossible to me. I would have never guessed I would have learned so much about myself there. We did activitivities I would never seen myself doing in a million years. Many of the students that went on the trip I would not normally be friends with, but at the end of the day no matter how different we were from one another, we were all friends and family to eachother and still keep in touch till this day. I don't know when I will be able to go on such an amazing adventure again, but my advice to whoever comes across this is, if you have the oppritunity, take it. Even if you are apprehensive, take the risk because I'm willing to bet you will learn so much more.
Thank you all for reading this and best of luck to everyone who entered this contest!
We love going to the Hawaiian Islands. Maui was one of our favorites. Molokini Crater is just off of the Maui coast. I couldn't believe at the variety of fish we snorkeled with–we even glimpsed a reef shark! Snorkeling at Molokini Crater was a great experience and was the inspiration for this short essay.
This is my scholarship essay, please confirm that it has been entered. Thank you!
The reason for my visit to Nigeria was because of a death in my family. In the attatched picture, I am in the middle, surrounded by my family members as we walked toward the area where the ceremony was to be held. The whole experience of visiting Nigeria a third time (but as a teenager) opened my eyes and made me realize that there are things in the world bigger than just me and my problems, and it's my job to find a way to give back before time runs out.
This was my family trip to Missouri…never forget how important learning and family is.
I am a young international traveler interested in seeing the dynamics between different cultures acted out out not only through travel but through international relations on a global stage. Trips to Belize and across the world have cemented my belief that nations working together is for the good of everyone on earth.
I wrote this for the Scholarship writing contest.
This is my entry for the FTF Teen Travel Writing Scholorship!
I hope that everyone can learn a little about this unique country from my blog. There are so many more things I wish I could say, but space is limited!