“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.” We have all heard the song that details the twelve days of Christmas. As adoption advocates, we are giving you another way to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas. Instead of singing ladies and silver rings, we’ve found twelve ways to give back to adoption and the orphan while shopping this holiday season.
Ornament Ideas
- The Christopher Radko Company sells a Celebrate Adoption Christmas ornament each year that benefits the Dave Thomas Foundation, which supports the foster care system and advocates adoption of all children, creating an awareness of the great need of children who are in search of their forever families.
- The 1500 TreeProject Shop makes and sells ornaments on Etsy.com to fund their family’s second international adoption of Taiwan. Purchasing a unique ornament for your loved one would allow you to support a family who is giving an orphan a home.
- Ornaments made by Ornaments 4 Orphans are created in impoverished communities. The proceeds of the ornaments are then given back to communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, where about one-third of the world’s orphans and vulnerable children live.
Clothes
- Noonday Collection started as a small fundraiser for a woman to bring home her son through adoption. Three years later, the company is a entrepreneurship partnership between consumers and local artisans around the world. Orphan care and adoption remain a core value of the company.
- Sevenly.com is a clothing website. Each week they designate a charity to receive $7 of each item that is purchased. You can check the website weekly and make a purchase when one of your charities is the beneficiary.
- Lovolution shirts are available here . The proceeds will help families with international adoption expenses. One of the shirt options is designed to challenge the idea that families with blood ties are stronger than the ties formed through adoption.
- Krochet Kollection is a company designed to empower people living in poverty by allowing them to create goods that can be sold in order for them to generate a fair wage. They sell crocheted accessories and other clothing items as well. The items available for sale can be found on their website.
Jewelry
- Helpusadopt.org is a nonprofit organization that gives grants to families adopting domestically, internationally or though the foster care system. One of the ways that the organization generates money to give is through jewelry.
- 31 Bits is an organization that uses “fashion and design to empower women to rise above poverty.” Their handmade pieces are crafted with beads made from recycled paper.
Gifts
- Children’s Dolls and doll clothing produced by My World Ethic Doll Clothing help to foster culture. These gifts can be found on their website and would make a great gift to a child raised internationally, a child you want to teach about another country’s culture, or an internationally adoptive child.
- A book created and sold by an adoptive family called Ellie Picks a Snack, or one of the many of the valuable resources we have listed on our Adoption Resources page.
- Little Passports is an excellent gift for a child. Throughout the year, each month the child will receive a postcard and information from a different country in the world. It is a great way to expose a child to world cultures and generate awareness of other traditions and people groups.
Hopefully, your loved ones will be singing, “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, an awesome t-shirt that helped give a child a forever family,” or at least something to that tune.
Photo Credit: Muffet
MLJ Adoptions
MLJ Adoptions is a Non-Profit, Hague-Accredited adoption service provider located in Indianapolis, Indiana, working in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Pacific Isles. We are passionate about serving children in need.