Have a ball! Give alternative gifts to sports fans: soccer balls for refugee kids
Monday, October 12, 2009

Kick off your holiday gift-giving with an idea that will appeal to the sports fan on your list: an "alternative gift" through Church World Service that helps build peace through soccer.

Children and adults in refugee camps or in war zones can benefit greatly from the simple gift of a soccer ball.  Through play, they can find common ground.  Visit http://www.cwsbestgifts.org/ to learn more about how your alternative gift giving can help change the world. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT

Elkhart, IN--Kick off your holiday gift-giving with an idea that will appeal to the sports fan on your list:  an "alternative gift" through Church World Service that helps build peace through soccer.

One of the gifts featured in the global humanitarian agency's annual "Best Gift Catalog" is the purchase of soccer balls which are used to encourage peace building among children and adults in refugee camps.

The idea is that people play soccer the world over, and a game of soccer is common meeting ground between countries, communities and ethnic groups. Children and adults in refugee camps or in war zones can benefit greatly from the simple gift of a soccer ball or two.  A $10 gift to CWS can help purchase a single soccer ball, a $20 gift can buy two, and a $50 gift can pay for five.

Soccer balls are  just one of many gifts in the 2009 Church World Service "Best Gift Catalog" that help build bridges between people and communities, build food and income sources and skills  and make a holiday statement that goes beyond the usual gift-giving and makes a real difference in the world.

“We encourage 'meaningful gift-giving' because it helps heal a broken world," said the Rev. John L. McCullough, Church World Service's executive director and CEO. “It extends hope beyond communities and even national borders and it makes life a little less difficult for those who could use a helping hand, like kids in a refugee camp whose lives will be enriched when they can play soccer with their friends."

In a tight economy, meaningful gift-giving also helps lighten the load for gift-givers, McCullough said. "At a time when people are cutting spending, giving something meaningful makes gift-giving easier. It also shows that when we join together to help fight poverty and hunger, gift-giving can have added meaning."

A sampling from this year's Best Gift Catalog shows the range of CWS work throughout the world. Rabbits, pigs, goats and other animals are gifts that multiply and examples of CWS work in food security-- as are gifts of basic grains like corn, rice or wheat. Mosquito nets help save lives in the wake of emergencies. School kits which include notebooks, pencils, erasers, crayons, rulers -- are part of Church World Service's ongoing commitment to help children in impoverished communities where even getting school supplies can be difficult.

Other items: wells and drip irrigation systems; micro-credit loans for women; baby chicks and water buffalos; rehydration therapy for small children at risk of death from diarrhea; birthing kits for mothers.
A gift from the Best Gift catalog provides support to the Church World Service program area directly related to the gift, such as agriculture and livestock, emergency and disaster preparedness, care for vulnerable children, water and environment, or women’s empowerment.

Gift prices represent the average cost of providing the particular tools, supplies, services or training to needy families.  Each purchase represents a tax deductible contribution to CWS and donations are used where needed most.

Many of the gifts are under $25, making them easily affordable and appropriate for giving by adults or children. Other gifts include a literacy class for two women ($50); a micro-credit loan ($100); a shelter kit ($175); a sewing machine and training ($250); construction trades training ($1,500); a water pump and training for a community ($1,000); water pumps and training for 10 communities ($10,000).

The Church World Service Best Gift Catalog and packets with suggestions for holding Alternative Holiday Fairs can be ordered at (800) 297-1516 or online at www.cwsbestgifts.org/. Gifts may be ordered by mail, telephone or online.

Church World Service is a global relief, sustainable development and refugee assistance agency supported by public donations and grants, and by 35 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations and communions in the United States.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

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