Why It Matters What You Buy For Christmas

Normally, on the day after Thanksgiving, I arise while it is still dark outside and join the millions of other idiots out shopping on Black Friday. But this year, much to my family's dismay, I said, "No."

I am working on minimizing my Christmas shopping and Christmas giving, at least in the usual materialistic, buying a bunch of crap that people will never wear or will stick in a closet and will eventually sell in a garage sale, kind of way.

This year, my immediate family will get a gift, not 12 gifts, and then the rest of the money I normally spend on them will be given to I Am Change. I am doing this because last year I learned that Americans spend about $450 Billion dollars on Christmas, AND it would only take about $10 Billion dollars annually to solve the clean water crisis in THE WORLD. So, just imagine if we each DIDN'T buy those junky stocking stuffers and instead bought a $25 donation card to I AM Change, then EVERYONE in the WORLD would have clean drinking water for an entire year!

Another interesting statistic. Every 15 seconds, someone dies due to a lack of access to clean drinking water. That means over two million people a year die because they couldn't get what you and I pour down a drain. Imagine if we just spent $25 less this year on Christmas gifts and gave it to I AM Change. Over two million people's lives would be saved, and you would be directly responsible for that. DIRECTLY.

So, back to Black Friday. I woke up this morning at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I got up and got dressed and went to WalMart. I kept putting things in my basket that I didn't need, but they were SOOOOOO cheap. But then I would think, "If I gave the $10 I am about to spend on this CLUE game to I AM Change, 10 people's lives would be changed." And then I would put it back on the shelf.

All that to say, it does matter what I buy for Christmas. And it matters what you buy too. I would love to see you on December 4th at 7:00 p.m. at "Christmas With a Cause" (Woodforest Bank next to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion). All proceeds from this event go directly to projects around the world.

You can make a difference in someone's life. Every dollar you donate saves the life of one child. Where else will you get that kind of cost to benefit ratio this season?