For The Person Who Has Everything

With the buzz of Black Friday dominating the airwaves and coupon sections, it can be easy to look in the traditional consumer corners for a gift for that person who already seems to have everything or who presents a challenge each year when it comes to gift-giving.

But the hundreds of nonprofits in the Flathead Valley have a different suggestion: donating to their causes in the name of another.

Giving Tuesday, this year on Dec. 1, is another offshoot of the Thanksgiving weekend shopping spree, when people across the nation purchase these types of honorariums and gifts. The movement even has its own hashtag on social media.

Chany Ockert with the Flathead Nonprofit Development Partnership said these kinds of gifts can make the recipient’s day, as well as providing support for the recipient’s favorite cause.

“So for the person who has everything, giving an honorarium to a cause that that person might be passionate about is oftentimes a really nice gift,” she said.

Usually, this means giving money to a nonprofit and then the organization either sending a card or some sort of notification to the recipient. At the Abbie Shelter, which provides services for women and children who are survivors of domestic abuse, a little money can go a long way, according to executive director Hilary Shaw.

“Twenty-five dollars helps buy a gas card for a mother so she doesn’t have to choose between driving her kids to school and driving to a job interview,” Shaw said.

A $200 gift would essentially pay for the Violence Free Crisis Line for a whole month, Shaw said, and $712 would pay for an entire day’s operations. The hotline receives about 1,200 calls per year, and the Abbie Shelter houses about 100 women and children per year.

Other donations could include general needs for the women and children at the shelter; Shaw said the deepest need at the shelter currently is for laundry detergent, shaving cream, and shaving razors.

Shaw said that not only does the person buying the gift receive the satisfaction of helping, but the honorarium recipient would also get a special bonus.

“If you make a donation to the Abbie Shelter, you will get a singing telegram on your telephone,” she said.

Purchasers can specify the Christmas carol, the phone number, and the time to call.

At the Humane Society of Northwest Montana, executive director Lori Heatherington said honorarium gifts receive a card in recognition of the donation, and their names are put in the fall or spring newsletter.

“All proceeds benefit the homeless animals, because that’s buying the pet food and keeping the lights on,” she said.

All gifts, regardless of expense or size, are welcome at the Humane Society, Heatherington said – a donated chew toy from the Dollar Store means that’s one dollar the organization can put toward other expenses.

The Humane Society also has a holiday wish list with needs on it.

“We try to make it such that everybody feels they have something worthwhile to contribute,” Heatherington said. “It’s always helping some pet somewhere.”

Ockert said that many residents might not know that their favorite nonprofit accepts such honorariums; places such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Intermountain, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, Foy’s to Blacktail Trails, Flathead Valley Community College, North Valley Hospital, and many more.

She also noted that several programs in the valley, such as United Way, have annual gift and warm clothing drives.

So while Thanksgiving weekend may be a portal into the wilds of the holidays, and remembering to give to a cause as well as a person can be another way to keep the holiday spirit bright.