Many people are looking for ways to keep their money close to home this holiday season while making an impact in their community. Fortunately, there are many ways to do that. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite options.
Gifts that do good
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Trees for Others.Arbor Day Foundation The Arbor Day Foundation lets you choose from two forests where you’d like trees to be planted in honor friends and loved ones including the Chippewa National Forest located in the heart of northern Minnesota. $10 plants five trees!
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Support a Classroom. Build a Future.DonorsChoose Choose a project and classroom from all over the U.S. and here in Minnesota that inspires you and give as little as $1. When the project is fully funded, DonorsChoose purchases all the requested items and ships them directly to the school.
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Gift an Experience
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Gift a Membership.Minnesota Zoo This holiday, when they ask for a kitten, give them the world’s largest cat. Gift a year of free admission and parking and support the animals and conservation efforts at the Zoo.
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Give the Gift of Hope.VEAP Gather your loved ones and help sort food donations, stock shelves with healthy food, or assist with Mobile Food Pantry distributions. VEAP is a basic needs organization in Bloomington whose programs include access to healthy foods, social services, housing stability and supportive services.
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Gifts that Give Back
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Love Beanies, Fight Cancer.Love Your Melon On a mission to improve the lives of children battling cancer, Love Your Melon began with the simple idea of putting a hat on every child battling cancer in America. Today 50% of net profit is given to support charitable programming through the Love Your Melon Fund and the nonprofits they support.
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Nice up Your Spice.Minnesota Nice Spice The “nice” about these spices doesn’t end with great flavor and great ingredients. In the true spirit of community, we donate proceeds from each sale to benefit Interact Center, a one-of-a-kind organization that supports over 125 theater and visual artists with disabilities.
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Gift Locally
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Gift For a Coffee Lover.Peace Coffee Peace Coffee strives to make the world a better place one cup at a time, and have fun while doing it! Proudly roasting, pedaling & brewing outstanding fair trade & organic coffee in the heart of south Minneapolis since 1996!
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Curated Gifts from Minnesota.Minny & Paul A local gifting studio that curates high quality goods from Minnesota makers and brands. You pick the gift, they hand write your message and send to that special person in your life. Their local makers include everything from hot sauce to dog treats!
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Gifts for the Future
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Gift For the Future.Go Beyond Philanthropy SRI or Sustainable, Responsible Impact Investing represents an investment strategy which seeks a financial return while bringing about a positive change. For example using Environmental, social and governance (ESG) as the main criteria for gauging the sustainability of an investment. |
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These are just a few of the many options that can be found locally to make an impact this holiday season. You can also search the National Green Pages at https://www.greenamerica.org/green-businesses-products-services to find green, healthy, and ethically produced products and services you need for home and work. The businesses featured here have earned Green America’s Green Business Certification, so you can be assured they are dedicated to building an economy that works for people and the planet.
