Gifts that Give Back

You can purchase Jimmy Choos to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. You can buy a Juicy charm bracelet to support St. Jude’s Children Hospital. You can even get a pink ceramic Santoku knife for breast cancer research. There are gifts, and then there are gifts that give back. In Yellow Scene’s annual giving guide, we wanted to offer up some gifts that benefit causes and nonprofits.

BeadforLife: This Boulder-based nonprofit supports women a world away. Encouraging independence and fighting extreme poverty in Africa, BeadforLife allows you to purchase bright necklaces made by Ugandan women and shea butter farmed and pressed by communities in Northern Uganda. Your money turns into food, medicine, vocational training, affordable housing and business development training for the BeadforLife members. beadforlife.org

Pet gifts: Even pets need holiday gifts. But when you pick out a bone or biscuits or a new chew toy, you can also help local pet shelters. Both the Longmont Humane Society and Humane Society of Boulder Valley have shops in their lobbies for all your pets’ wants and needs. Plus, proceeds benefit the homeless pets of Boulder County. longmonthumane.org, boulderhumane.org

Thrift gifts: Vintage is super cool right now, so it’s the perfect time to dig through local thrift shops to find retro duds for your favorite fashionista. Numerous nonprofits also have thrift shops—with proceeds benefiting the cause. Check out Hospice
Care & Share Thrift Shop in Boulder, Habitat ReStores in Broomfield and Longmont, and of course, Salvation Army and Goodwill.

Colorado Wildscapes: Bringing Conservation Home: Wildscaping is the art and science of creating healthy, diverse habitats in your own backyard, feeding, sheltering and nurturing wild creatures, like birds and butterflies. Proceeds from this book go to programs of the local Audubon Society.

Memberships: One of the coolest ways to support a worthy organization is to gift a membership to a worthy friend. Your artist sister? Get her a membership to the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. Your history buff boss? Get him a membership to the Boulder History Museum. Your home-brewer son? A membership to the Boulder-based Brewers’ Association. bmoca.org, boulderhistory.org

Performances: One way to support local nonprofits is by just showing up. And it just so happens that the holidays are a stellar time to check out the local cultural offerings. You can’t forget the classic Nutcracker (Ballet Nouveau, bncdance.com) or even various takes on Christmas traditions, such as Ratcracker (Frequent Flyers, frequentflyers.org) and SantaLand Diaries (Boulder Ensemble Theatre, boulderensemble
theatre.org).

Threadless: The Threadless T-shirt company has an entire sister project for T-shirts for causes, nonprofits and issues. They are smart, and cool, and they look good. From the Red Cross to the Alzheimer’s Association, 25 percent of sales go to the cause. threadless.com

Dsenyo: It’s eco-chic with an ethical bent. Lafayette resident Marissa Perry Saints founded Dsenyo on the principal of empowering African women and artisans. Her bags are hand-crafted in Malawi, paying fair wages to artisans who create the fabulous bags and donating funds to help with community development projects. Visit dsenyo.com, find her bags at Particulars in Lafayette or Rabid Rabbits Galleria in Longmont.