4 Amazing Giving Tuesday Causes + Gifts That Give Back

Happy Giving Tuesday, everyone! After the chaos of all of the sales, it feels good to take a step back and remember that there is so much more to life than sweaters and gadgets. Since Giving Tuesday can be just as overwhelming as Cyber Week Sales, I thought I’d narrow today’s post down to 4 very worthy causes for you to consider today.

Before we dive in, I know parents and in-laws are the hardest to shop for every year, and I really love the idea of bringing a nice bottle of wine and making a donation to one of these organizations in their name. It’s a meaningful gesture, and instead of getting them something they don’t want, you could help someone who really needs it.

And if none of these speak to you, definitely check out my post about Chicago Volunteering Opportunities. A lot of those organizations accept donations in addition to volunteers – especially now that they are taking COVID precautions. I am personally donating to the Chicago Food Depository today – all of the donations that come in today will be doubled thanks to a Giving Tuesday Matching Challenge!

Lastly, since I know sometimes you feel like you NEED to bring a physical present, keep scrolling for a list of 10 amazing gifts that give back to those in need. They are all SO CUTE, and since I can earn a commission on a few of the brands, I will be donating 100% of anything I make off of this specific post. Thanks for your help, friends!

4 Organizations To Donate To This Giving Tuesday

A Child For All

As soon as my friend Marley reached out to tell me about this incredible organization, I was all ears. ACFA was founded in 2010 to address children affected by deep poverty in Mali. Their founder, Malian-American Kadiatou Sidibe, also grew up in poverty in Mali and built this organization after coming to the US to prevent more children from struggling the same way she did.

Mali has seen a lot of conflict over the past 10 years, starting with a coup d-etat in 2012 that upended the government resulting in many families left in poverty or begging on the streets. This year, the government was overthrown again while the country was facing COVID-19, creating even more turmoil for Mali’s most vulnerable. 

A Child for All was created to help Mali’s most vulnerable children, those who are homeless or living in deep poverty. 

They provide each child in the program with their own bed at their home in Bamako, along with 3 meals a day, education, private tutoring (since many of them didn’t have an education before they entered ACFA’s program), health care, and more. Also, they train them in vocational skills (mechanics, hair-braiding, sewing, farming) so they can run their own business or get a job after school.

After your contributions last year, ACFA was able to build and open their new school, legally adopt 8 additional children into the program, and save three of their children from malaria. This year, they have two main goals in 2021: the first is to adopt additional children to provide them with a healthier and happier future; the second is to build a new library for the children and surrounding local communities to use. Any amount to contribute is incredibly helpful, but to give you an idea of what certain amounts translate to:

$10 = provides 3 nutritious meals for 5 children
$36 = covers a child’s preschool education for one month
$48 = provides healthcare coverage for one child for a month

Want to help? Me too. You can donate directly through their Global Giving campaign now.

Second City Canine Rescue

If you love dogs, Second City Canine Rescue is a great organization to support. While they accept monetary donations, you can also purchase essential items from their general Amazon wishlist or the one specifically for the adoption center, too. Or, if you have any baby gates, no Freedom No-Pull Harnesses (all sizes), or high quality food & treats (unopened), you can drop those off at their adoption center!

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Supply Hope

This organization was introduced to me by another friend from my hometown (these women are amazing!). Supply Hope supports parents living in poverty in Nicaragua by providing them with a reliable income through micro-franchising. The micro-franchise also serves their neighbors by making healthy, fresh food more affordable and accessible to low-income communities. Most of their store owners are women and 50% are single or divorced moms!

In addition to providing jobs that increase their daily income from $0-2 a day to $8.35 a day, Supply Hope also provides access to legal services, counseling, healthcare discounts, and financial planning. This isn’t just about providing help, it’s about empowering these men and women to create a better life for themselves. How amazing is that?!

Depending on how much money you’d like to donate, you can purchase specific gifts. $25 will provide a uniform (hat, raincoat, money-bag, 3 t-shirts, and sun-protectant sleeves), $100 will provide business training, all the way up to $1000 to cover all of the start-up costs of one of these micro franchises. You can read more about each gift and donate here!

Feel Good Gifts at Lurie Children’s Hospital

I’m pretty sure everyone in Chicago knows about that incredible work being done at Lurie Children’s Hospital – but have you heard about their new Feel Good Gifts program?

Basically, Feel Good Gifts allows you donate a meaningful gift to families spending the holidays in the hospital. You can browse the gifts by category, occasion or price, but here are a few particularly sweet ones:

• Visit from Santa: ($68) Coordinate and staff a visit from Santa for one inpatient floor.
• Holiday Gift Cards for Families: ($50) Provide holiday support to one family.
• Holiday Travel Package: ($40) Help meet transportation needs so a family can be together this holiday season.
• Pet Therapy Visit: ($37) Help hospitalized children find comfort and heal faster through pet therapy.
• Arts & Crafts Supplies: ($35) Supply crayons, paper, paint and other arts and crafts supplies for patients.

Our yellow lab, Maggie, used to be a therapy dog with my Mom, so that gift is particularly near and dear to my heart. But how sweet that you can help them arrange a visit from Santa?! My heart!

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Physical Gifts That Give Back:

1. Ivory Ella

Know someone who loves elephants? Ivory Ella was founded after 6 friends discovered the sad reality of the ivory trade and abuse of elephants. Instead of looking the other way, they created this company that donates 10% of their profits to Save The Elephants. They have SO many cute gifts on their website, including this tie dye hoodie, this sherpa jacket, these cute masks, and these pajamas! Also, when you donate $5 to Save The Elephants, you’ll get 40% off their entire site!

2. Equilibria

Equilibria is my favorite CBD company for so many reasons. It’s a female founded small business based in Chicago, their products are extremely high quality and effective, and they have the biggest hearts! For Giving Tuesday, they are offering 10% off to all of you AND donating 10% of every sale to Black Girl Ventures, an amazing organization that supports Black and Brown female entrepreneurs. Their holiday gift sets have been contributing to this fund since they launched, but now you can help raise money for them even if you purchase one for yourself. How awesome is that?! (Also, my code ‘lakeshorelady’ will get you an addition 15% off your first purchase!)

3. love your melon

Love Your Melon was founded by students from University of St. Thomas in 2012 because they wanted to help put hats on every child battling cancer in America. Since then they have given over 7.2 million dollars to the fight against pediatric cancer. They’ve also donated over 206,000 hats to children battling cancer. THE SWEETEST! And if you purchase a Love Your Melon hat for someone this Christmas, 50% of the net profits will go towards the fight against pediatric cancer. (They also have face masks now, too!)

4. Cuddle + Kind

8. bombas socks

Did I leave any of your favorites out?

Please feel free to share other worthy causes below!!

PS. You might also like Chicago Volunteering Opportunities!