Repost: Five Ways to Shop and Give This Holiday Season

December is always a time where everyone's thinking about gift-giving, and the inevitable shopping that comes with it. Of course, you can always Give Something That Means Something through our Holiday Gift Catalog, but if you want to go the more traditional gift route, we can help with that too, thanks to some of our amazing corporate partners. Check out the story below for more.

This story was originally printed on RedCross.org:

Five Ways to Shop and Give this Holiday Season

This holiday season, Give Something that Means Something by supporting the American Red Cross while you shop.

Circle K West Coast and Florida Divisions, FedEx, Mazda and its Dealers, Target and AmazonSmile are all teaming up with the Red Cross to provide customers with an opportunity to give back during the holidays. Whether you are looking for special items for loved ones, stocking stuffers, or you need to ship gifts, these holiday sponsors are providing opportunities to give with meaning. The generosity of these companies, and their customers, will enable the Red Cross to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies every day.

Circle K West Coast and Florida Divisions

Throughout November and December, customers at Circle K locations on the West Coast and in Florida can make in-store donations to support the work of the Red Cross. Your spare change can add up to make a big difference this holiday season and year-round.

FedEx

FedEx customers across the country can check something off their holiday “to do” list when they Pack, Ship and Give this holiday season, and support the Red Cross at the same time. From November 28 through December 14, FedEx will give $1 to the Red Cross for every pack and ship transaction made at FedEx Office, up to $250,000.

Mazda and its Dealers

In the market for a vehicle this holiday season? Now through January 2, customers who purchase or lease a new Mazda vehicle may direct a $150 donation from Mazda to the Red Cross (among other participating charities) during the Mazda Drive for Good campaign.

Target

Now through the holiday season, for every limited-edition TOMS for Target apparel, accessory and home goods purchase made, Target will donate a blanket, a week of meals or a pair of shoes. When a customer purchases select items from the TOMS collection, Target will donate $5 to Red Cross Disaster Relief to help provide a blanket to someone in need. Not only can you find stylish gift items for loved ones, but your gift also provides a critical service to someone in need.

AmazonSmile

Support the Red Cross from the comfort of your own home this holiday season and beyond! Through this ongoing, year-round program, you may designate the Red Cross as your preferred charity, and 0.5% of the price of eligible items you purchase at smile.amazon.com will be donated to the Red Cross. You can also watch this short video to see how the Red Cross is using donations from AmazonSmile to help families in need.

The Red Cross Holiday Campaign runs through December 31 and offers additional ways to Give Something that Means Something.

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Holiday Giving Catalog: Give Our Troops a Holiday Gift

This holiday season, give to someone who does so much for your country; give to a service member. When you’re writing your gift list, don’t forget to include someone who hasn’t asked for anything.

Show our service members that they’re cared for this holiday season by granting them the gift of comfort. Just $50 lets one member of the military know that you care, and you didn’t forget all that they do.

Military comfort kits provide a little bit of home to service members who are injured and are spending a few days, weeks or months at a military hospital. The kit is filled what they need to stay comfortable and keep in touch while they’re recovering — a phone card, robe, shower shoes, toiletries and an MP3 music gift card.

Take a look at other ways to give to our military or to the American Red Cross around the globe or in the U.S. in our Holiday Giving Catalog.

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Celebrities Support Red Cross Holiday Giving Campaign

Television, movie and music personalities urge people to give the gift that saves the day



More than a dozen celebrities are urging their fans and the public to donate to the American Red Cross this holiday season and give a gift that could save the day for someone in need.

Celebrities who are actively encouraging support for the Red Cross holiday giving campaign include actors Josh Duhamel, Marlee Matlin, Jane Seymour, Jackie Chan and Jimmy Smits; television personalities Dr. Phil McGraw, Nancy O’Dell and Leeza Gibbons; and award-winning music stars Chayanne, Reba, Rascal Flatts, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans and Pat Green. All are members of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet.

The Red Cross holiday giving campaign features an online “Gifts that Save the Day” catalog that enables people to make a tax-deductible charitable donation this holiday season that could provide food and shelter for a disaster victim for a day; a military comfort kit with a robe, phone or music card and other supplies for a wounded warrior; or basic necessities for a family who lost everything in a disaster.

Catalog gifts are contributions toward a Red Cross program area, not a donation to a specific project or item. The donations will be used to provide assistance where it is needed most within the program area; the remaining money is put to use where it is needed most. Many mobile phone owners can also make a $25 donation by texting GIFT to 90999.

Smits narrates the Red Cross holiday television advertisement, now airing across the country this season, which describes the Red Cross moment when people go from despair to hope during an emergency or disaster.

“This holiday season, I’m giving the gift of hope by supporting my local American Red Cross,” Reba said in a video message about the campaign. “Instead of sweaters and ties, I’m giving gifts from the Red Cross Holiday Giving Catalog.” Reba also has sent an e-mail to Red Cross supporters nationwide encouraging them to donate this holiday season.

Seymour is the primary celebrity spokesperson for the campaign and will be participating in a series of television and radio interviews promoting support of the Red Cross the last week of December, a time when many people make year-end tax-deductible donations to charities.

“Perhaps it’s because my father was a doctor, or because I played one on television, but I think my favorite gift in the catalog is the gift of vaccination against measles,” Seymour said. “It’s a great honor to be asked to take part in this worthwhile endeavor for the American Red Cross. I can tell you from personal experience that the time I spend volunteering has enriched my life.”

“You can really make a difference for a lot of families by contributing to the Red Cross Holiday Gift catalog,” said Duhamel, who promoted giving to the Red Cross during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. Dr. Phil shared Red Cross inspirational items for military members on his recent holiday show. Donations in support of members of the military are among the most popular Red Cross contributions.

Celebrities are also reaching tens of millions of their fans and supporters by using their digital media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and websites to promote donations to the Red Cross.
For example, Judd informed her Twitter followers, “$25 vaccinates 25 children around the world against measles. Wanna help? http://bit.ly/RCHoliday.” Chayanne, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Matlin, O’Dell, Evans, Green, Gibbons and Chan have “tweeted” or made Facebook or website postings, urging their followers to support the Red Cross holiday campaign.

Each celebrity’s work on the holiday campaign is just the latest example of their support of the Red Cross.

A recent Red Cross survey showed that despite the economy that has impacted so many Americans, people plan to give to charity this holiday season, with nearly six in ten (57 percent) planning to donate at least $50 to charitable causes over the holidays.

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Wrap-Up Your Holiday Shopping with Hope

Participating in the 2010 Red Cross Online Holiday Giving Catalog

It’s Cyber Monday! While you’re making your lists, checking them twice and preparing for this holiday season, remember that disasters don’t take holidays. They can strike at any place, at any time, leaving those affected distraught and without hope. Some 60 people at a Dallas apartment complex learned far too much about what fire leaves behind when, on Black Friday, a 4-alarm blaze demolished their holiday. In an instant, families found themselves without basic needs like food and shelter.

Victims of this disaster and others desperately need your help. Be the one to meet their need by visiting the Red Cross Holiday Giving Catalog. There, you can end your search for the hottest toy and choose to provide a hot meal for victims of disaster. Or wrap up your holiday shopping by wrapping three children in Red Cross blankets for a gift of only $18. You can help turn tragedy into hope by shopping for gifts that truly save the day.

Disasters can happen anytime and holidays are no exception. Just since Thanksgiving Day, the Red Cross in Dallas has already been on the curb with nearly 100 people who were burned out by home fires. As I write you this letter at this very moment, the Red Cross is being called to yet another fire in Dallas which will require more materials for aid and assistance. By participating in our online gift catalog this Cyber Monday, you can ensure that the Red Cross has the supplies ready to respond to every disaster, whenever they occur.

As you’re making your gift lists this season, remember to include victims of disaster who desperately need Red Cross assistance. Wrap up your shopping by choosing to give help and hope.

All of us at the American Red Cross wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones

Red Cross Responds to 4-Alarm Fire in Dallas, Texas

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