While you may not be finding things tighter in the phoca area yet, there are plenty of people out there this Christmas who are. And that's why myself, Aphrodite and our sister plus our partners have decided to donate our pressie budget to worthwhile causes. We do Kris Kindle among the six of us anyway, so what it means is that we'll all shell out to charity instead of giving each other gifts. We've chosen animal causes like Paws and the ISPCA because we felt that animal welfare was a subject close to beaut.ie, and we're all big animal fans.
But there are so many other hugely deserving causes out there: as part of Himself's pressie, I also got him a goat for an African family through Oxfam Ireland, and he got me the gift of supporting women in business. Trocaire, Bothar and Goal all offer similar presents, and the proceeds benefit so many needy people.
Closer to home, and affected by our own economic situation, are the people who rely on charities like Focus, the St Vincent de Paul, and Aware. These services will be under increased strain this year, and deserve all the help they can get. This is just a small sample of charitible organisations in the country - within your own community you'll no doubt know about others. In my neighbourhood, for example, the Capuchin Monks at The Capuchin Day Centre on Church Street in Dublin 7 will provide soup, tea and sandwiches to over 600 people a week over the Christmas period in addition to over 500 food parcels to the poor and homeless across the city.
Advertised
So the message we'd like to impart this Christmas is an old one: give a little, beaut.ies, because it will help a lot.
