Photo: Getty
It’s the most wonderful, bizarre time of the year. The holidays, like nearly everything else, look different this year amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with far fewer gay happy meetings and friends coming to call — but there are still ways to make it the hap-happiest season of all.
Hopefully you’ve already shopped small (okay, we’ll stop with the rhyming now) — which means your gift may be delayed, due to an overwhelmed, understaffed USPS. If you’re looking for something to lift a loved one’s spirits last minute, donating on their behalf is a thoughtful way to pay it forward and help support a cause near and dear to one’s heart. Below, we’ve rounded up a non-comprehensive list of suggestions to help get you started.
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For the Person Who Misses Live Shows
For the Friend with a List of “Must Try” Restaurants
With so many charities and individual funds set up tosupport restaurants and the service industry, it’s impossible to pick just one. Whether you choose to donate directly to your local haunt’s staff fund or to one of these larger organizations, you’re helping to secure a future where you and your friend can enthusiastically agree to split the two entrées you each have your eye on — a particular delight of dining out in good company.
World Central Kitchen/WCK.org
The James Beard Foundation has launched a number of campaigns and funds to support the service industry. TheOpen for Goodcampaign is focused on reopening and rebuilding the restaurant industry after the devastation the pandemic has wrought, while theJames Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Investment Fund for Black and Indigenous Americansstrives to provide financial resources for Black or Indigenous-owned restaurants and bars.
For the Frequent Flyer
While international travel is still largely on hold due to the ongoing pandemic, there is one heartwarming way to use up any soon-to-expire frequent flyer miles on your account: donate them! United Airlines has partnered withMiles4Migrants.org, which works with nonprofits to identify refugees or asylum-seekers who have received legal travel approval but don’t have the means to purchase a flight. Don’t have United miles? You can still help — the organization also accepts miles or credit vouchers from most major airlines. Any world traveler knows how life-changing a flight can be — so the opportunity to gift the flight of a lifetime is one that shouldn’t be passed up.
For the Dive Bar Regular
We all miss going out, bending too close together to shout into a friend or date’s ear over the music, tasting their drink to see if that’s the one you want, too. Pick the pal who’s most reliably down to grab a happy hour cocktail and donate to the USBG National Charity Foundation’sBartender Emergency Assistance Program (BEAP)in their honor, helping to support bartenders across the country.
For the Dumpling Hoarder
For the Activist
For the Teacher-Turned-Zoom-Pro
While what most teachers really need is a year-long vacation at this point, the gesture of supporting an organization likeDonors Choosewill go a long way with anyone who’s been tasked with instructing via Zoom or socially distanced classes this year. The website allows you to browse through public school projects and donate to help fund one of your choice. Donors get a heartwarming thank-you note from the teacher, along with photos of the project in process and a rundown of what supplies the money provided.
source: people.com
