Santa isn’t the only one making a list and checking it twice. Impoverished communities in the 20+ countries where FH serves are, too. And this year, they’ve added 13 new items to their Gift Catalog “wish list” of tools and resources they need to achieve their goals and break free from poverty for good.
Here’s how it works: Every year, FH leadership and field staff work with communities to determine what pressing needs they want to address and what gifts will make the greatest difference for the most vulnerable. The communities put a lot of thought into the items they request. Many of the children and families even dream about how life today (and in the future) will be transformed by each item. And sometimes, they get creative in addressing the unique problems their community faces to come up with new items never-before-featured in the catalog.
Once their item nominations are selected and sorted through, Food for the Hungry’s holiday gift catalog is born!
Ready to make a Christmas list of your own? We’re excited to share what’s new in the gift catalog this year. Check out these new items, and consider blessing someone this season (or giving a gift in honor of a friend):
New Item: Quail
The gift of Quail ($8) will be a huge help to families struggling with extreme hunger in Nicaragua. These small-but-mighty birds produce eggs at a rapid pace to quickly create a large flock. As a result, hungry families will soon have more meat and eggs than they can eat themselves, meaning a huge surplus to sell at the market.
New Item: Oxen
Sometimes great gifts come in large packages, too. Take the Oxen ($529) for example. Brawny and muscular, oxen make outstanding helpers on any farm by plowing land with ease and speed. With this great gift, families facing hunger will be well-equipped to cultivate an even greater harvest of nutritious food to eat and sell at the market.
New Item: Fish Farming
Provide a family with all the tools to start a small Fish Farm ($120). This great gift includes fish fingerlings (juvenile fish about the size of a finger), plus training on how to construct, develop, and maintain a pond. Even more exciting is what these fish will provide: A harvest of nutritious protein to eat and plenty extra to sell at the market.
New Item: Maize Seeds
Weighing in at about 3.5 pounds, this package of Maize Seeds ($3) have been improved for planting to provide an exponentially larger harvest for children and families. When the maize is ripe for picking, they’ll have more than enough nutritious corn to eat. In fact, there will be plenty extra to sell to hungry neighbors and earn an income to meet other needs like school fees and medicine.
New Item: Ox Plow
A great gift on its own, or in combination with Oxen (another new item listed above). This Ox Plow ($97) will help a hungry family to harness the power of their oxen to till soil with more strength and speed than they could by hand. Their harvest will increase. As a result, their food and income will, too.
New Item: Help Start a Business
Time and again, FH has found that ending poverty for families (and entire communities) often starts with empowering women and girls. That’s what this new item represents: You’ll Help Start a Business ($300) by equipping a vocational school graduate, many of whom are women. How? By providing the necessary supplies: salon equipment, sewing machines, tools for a trade, and more. She’ll work hard to make this business a success and transform her future in the process.
New Item: Start a Savings Group
Here’s another new item that will unlock the potential in young women to take charge of their futures. When you Start a Savings Group ($65), you will equip women in an impoverished community (where access to a bank is rare) with a safe way to save money. As a result, they will be able to plan for the future, prepare for emergencies, and become self-sustaining. In addition, the women will be able to take out and pay back loans.
New Item: Mosquito Net
This gift is essential in places like Cambodia. A Mosquito Net ($12) provides a layer of protection for children while they sleep. Mosquitos can often carry diseases, so this net prevents the spread of disease. Your gift will keep children safe and healthy in their homes as they sleep.
New Item: Rechargeable Lamp
In the Philippines, where cyclones are common, families frequently have to evacuate to shelters to wait out the storm. When major storms come in, the power is often one of the first things to go out. This creates a safety risk for children and families walking around in the dark. A Rechargeable Lamp ($19) will be a source of security during storm evacuations and dark nighttime trips to the latrine.
New Item: Refugee Kit
In addition to being a new item, this Refugee Kit ($69) is urgently needed. As you read this, refugees are flooding into Peru from Venezuela, fleeing political instability and economic ruin. Providing this kit will equip local churches in Peru to support these children and families with food like rice, sugar, tuna, lentils, milk, and more.
New Item: Solar Lamp
Education is one of the best ways to fight poverty. That’s why new items like this Solar Lamp ($29) are so important. Often children need to complete their homework assignments after dark, but many of the communities FH serves don’t have electricity. Candles and other fire-based light sources can be dangerous, especially for kids. So a solar-powered lamp that can be left out to charge during the day provides safe access to light at night, making a huge difference. Children will be able to complete their homework, succeed in their studies, and achieve a much brighter future as a result.
New Item: Pens for a Classroom
When it comes to learning, writing utensils could not be more essential. Pens for a Classroom ($1.75) provides a simple, yet life-changing, gift for students. These pens will help them to practice their handwriting, complete school assignments, and develop the essential skills of literacy and written communication they will need to succeed in future studies and careers.
New Item: Renovate a Classroom
This gift is a great way to turn a fixer-upper school into the learning environment of a community’s dreams. Renovate a Classroom ($3,002) will make a visible and tangible difference in a deteriorating classroom by painting walls, fixing doors, changing blinds, repairing electrical systems and roofing. Kids will learn so much better in a study-friendly classroom, and their futures will look brighter, too.
What are you planning on gifting this year from the gift catalog? Check out all the new items on the gift catalog here.
See How Gift Catalog Gifts Change Lives
Lighting the Way to Education for Children
Ducks & Chickens: Small Birds with Big Impact
Chickens, Pigs, and Pencils: How Simple Things Create Big Opportunities
