12 Places to Buy Gifts that Give Back this Holiday Season

Gifts that Give Back

Looking for gifts that give back? Here is a list of where you can find unique gifts that give back to great causes.

The Refugee Empowerment Center

Located in Omaha, this organization helps resettle refugees by assisting them with living arrangements, work, and education. You can support resettled women by buying their lovely, soothing candles. They are poured right here in Omaha. These are the perfect gifts for getting through a long, cold winter.

Bee Love

Treat someone you love to some lovely lip balms, bath products, or honey. Beelove products are made by Sweet Beginnings, a company based out of Chicago. They employ formerly incarcerated men and women by training them to be beekeepers and to use honey to make their products. The company also assists in finding other permanent employment.

Grounds and Hounds Coffee

Purchase fair-trade and organic specialty grounds for the coffee lovers in your life and feel good knowing your purchase is going to a good cause. Grounds and Hounds donates 20% of every purchase to dog rescue organizations. They also sell candies, hot chocolate, drinkware, brewing gear, and items for your dog.

Adventurist Backpack Co.

For the adventurer, student, or parent looking for a backpack to tote items, this is the perfect gift that will give back. They work with farmers to purchase excess food in bulk, eliminate waste, and donate food to food banks for families in need. For every backpack purchased through Adventurist Backpack Co., they donate 25 meals to families in need across the United States.

Bombas

These socks take sock-gifting up to a new level. They have a variety of comfortable and durable socks in addition to slippers, sweatpants, and shirts. There is an adorable line of Sesame Street socks for the little ones worth checking out. When you purchase an item, Bombas gives back by donating a clothing item to a person affected by homelessness.

Love Your Melon

This company began with a mission to help provide a hat for every child battling cancer. You can find items such as cozy hats, blankets, masks, and other apparel, making it easy to give back to a very important cause. They donate 50% of their profits to nonprofit organizations that fight pediatric cancer.

Thistle Farms

Located in Tennessee, this company serves as a community and a way to rebuild lives for women survivors of prostitution, trafficking, and/or addition. Thistle Farms employs these survivors to provide gateway employment for them to become financially self-sufficient. You can find everything from candles, home goods, bath products, clothing, jewelry, and even baby toys.

Cuddle and Kind

This company gives back by funding meals for children with food insecurity. Started by a mother and father, they make adorable dolls (all ethically produced) that are a unique and thoughtful gift for a child. They also sell prints that would be perfect for a nursery. Each doll sold provides ten meals to hungry children, and each print sold provides five meals.

Taste of Immokalee

This benefit corporation is based out of Immokalee, Florida, the second poorest community in Florida. They employ high school students, teach them business skills, and break the cycle of poverty. They use local agriculture to create food products like sauces, salsas, and cookies.

4ocean

This global cleanup operation works to pull trash from the ocean. They have many products, including bracelets, drinkware, reusable storage bags, beach gear, and apparel. Every product sold helps to pull one pound of trash from the ocean.

The Raider Project

By purchasing items from this organization, you help fund expenses associated with helping veterans transition back to civilian life. They provide mental health services, employment assistance, mentorship, retreats, and sports programs. They sell a variety of clothing, accessories, and even coffee.

Oowee Products

This company works closely with the Autism Society of North Carolina to employ adults on the autism spectrum. They make handcrafted accessories, including beverage holders, desk trays, cord organizers, hats, luggage tags, leather card wallets, and more. You can customize gifts for the holidays or any special occasion.

 

What businesses would you add to the list? 

Angela Jeck
Angela is the mother of two, Seamus (9) and Maggie (7) and also stepmother to Isabella (17). She is married to Dustin and lives in the southwest Omaha area. She grew up in northwest Omaha and graduated from UNO. With an education degree, she taught in the public schools and worked in higher education before becoming a stay-at-home mom and working part-time, teaching English online. Now she volunteers through Lutheran Family services, helping clients with their English skills. In her spare time, Angela enjoys reading, writing, painting, knitting, gardening, and cooking. She loves Omaha because it is the perfect place for a family while also having a great offering of art and culinary experiences.