Guide to Giving in a Pandemic

This year has certainly been a tough one for many people. If you are among the fortunate that are able to purchase gifts for loved ones, small businesses should be your first stop. It is no secret that our small businesses have been hit hard in this pandemic and most are probably hanging on by threads to stay open. The best part about buying someone a gift from a small business is that it will most likely be a unique gift that you will not have to worry about someone else purchasing a duplicate of or getting them something that they already have. Sometimes you can find a small business that specializes in one item, such as candles or coffee mugs or even a food type item. You could look into what they charge for a bulk purchase and give everyone on your list whatever that specialty item is. Facebook is another great way to see which businesses are running holiday bulk gifting deals. Many businesses offer discounts if you mention seeing their post on Facebook or if you like their page or follow any of their social media. It can also help to use Facebook as way of finding local or small businesses that are near you. If you are having trouble finding small businesses in your area, your town hall or business bureau is a great way to get a directory of small businesses. I always like to check American Express' website that sponsors the “Small Business Saturday” every year because it will cater your search to your location and it provides the companies name, address, phone number and even a link to the companies website. Just a general search for “small business Saturday” on your favorite search engine should bring the page right up.

If you are looking for an option that allows you to shop from the comfort of your home to maintain your “safer at home” efforts check out sites like Etsy or Amazon's new hand made options. Those sites are people who hand make all of the items and you can find almost anything from clothing to plants to electronics. All are unique one of a kind gifts that will impress anyone on your list. You also have options like Tee-spring and don't forget to check if your favorite (or your gift recipients favorite) YouTuber or blogger have merchandise they are selling as well. While it may not be purchasing from a small business, greatergood.com is an excellent way to purchase gifts that give more. Every purchase donates towards a certain cause, you can choose which cause you want to shop for in the sites menu. For example, if you choose the animal rescue store, each purchase will donate a certain amount of meals to shelter animals depending on the price of the item. There are many different causes on the site that have their own stores that you can shop and give towards. If all else fails and you do not see something on there that works for who you are shopping for, you can choose to donate in that persons name and they will email you a beautiful email that shows that a donation was made in their name. You could print it and frame it and give it to them. I did that for my mom on Mother's Day one year and had photos of our family dog printed and made a collage that I had framed and gave to her as a gift.

Like millions of other people out there, if you too are out of work or have only just got back to work and money is tight, homemade gifts are still a great option. You can do it for a small amount of money and make many gifts. You can make cookies and package them up with a personalized little message for each person. If you go to the Dollar Tree, for around $7.00 you can get enough material to make and package around 100 cookies. You can get a 5 pound bag of flour and sugar, butter or margarine, cookie cutters, eggs, 10 pack of holiday themed plastic gift bags and frosting or sprinkles, it will be 7 dollars plus tax and will allow you to make about 100 cookies that you can separate into 10 separate gifts inside the gift bags. You could also purchase a pack of premade bows or a roll of ribbon to spruce it up a bit.

But, if things are just too tight and you can not afford to spend any money you could personalize a video that you make for each of your loved ones. I like using MyTalkingPet app and making funny videos of messages to my family using my pets or a photo of their beloved pets. However, there are apps like JibJab that allow you to place your face in funny holiday themed scenes if you do not have any pets that would be great to spotlight in a gift video. The most important thing to remember is that gift giving is from the heart and no amount of money can make it mean more. So, whether you have $0 dollars or $100 dollars to spend towards each person this year, make sure it is a gift from the heart if you want it to really and truly be special. Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy and safe holiday season!