Gifts with meaning

Churches' charity marketplaces offer alternative to more stuff

Betty Gunz is going Christmas shopping this Sunday. But she won't be headed to the mall, and she won't be weighed down with large packages. Gunz will go to church -- Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh, specifically.

There, at its annual Marketplace of Meaningful Gifts, she'll get acquainted with 10 nonprofit social service groups, such as the Women's Center of Wake County or the Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina.

She'll then take out her pocketbook and write some of the groups a check. At Christmas, Gunz will present her loved ones with cards saying she has made a donation in their honor.

Each year, people complain about the commercialization of Christmas and the mass consumerism it spawns. Some Christians have decided to do something about it. Instead of giving people gifts they don't need, they are giving to causes in great need -- in the name of their friends and family.

"On your birthday, you get gifts," says the Rev. Steve Hickle, pastor of Fairmont United Methodist Church in Raleigh, a participating church in the marketplace. "On Jesus' birthday, you give gifts to Jesus."

Giving to the needy has always been a staple of Christmas -- a way to show thanks for the arrival of Jesus. Groups such as Franklin Graham's Operation Christmas Child ship about 8 million poor children shoeboxes full of gifts and school supplies. Heifer International encourages people to buy goats, chickens and cows for people in struggling nations. And Church World Service has a "best gift catalog," where people can buy blankets or food packages for people in need.

But giving monetary donations is gaining currency. St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Raleigh is holding a "Gifts of Grace" event this Sunday. United Church of Chapel Hill will have its "alternative Christmas market" next weekend. These churches encourage people to quit ripping through wrapping paper and tearing up boxes and allow families together for the holiday to share how their faith has inspired them to make the world a better place.

"It gives you a chance to talk about what you value, what's important in your life," says Gunz, a member of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh.

A few Christmases ago, Gunz and her family decided to stop giving one another "stuff" and start making donations instead.

They haven't eliminated "stuff," but they have begun a tradition of writing checks to their favorite causes in each other's names.

Gunz has given a donation on behalf of her grandson to Toys for Tots, a Marine Corps program that distributes gifts to needy children. She has also given donations on behalf of her daughter to the Grameen Foundation, which lends money to poor people.

Nonprofits invited

An annual tradition at Community United Church of Christ, the marketplace this year has expanded to include Pullen Baptist and Fairmont United Methodist churches.

A committee determined which nonprofit organizations to invite. The main criterion is that the group be devoted to peace and justice, a longstanding commitment at Community UCC. Other agencies were brought in because of connections to members. For example, Robert Parrish, a member of Community, lobbied to include his group, Wake Federation of the Blind.

"Our organization works for equality of the blind, and that won them over," says Parrish, who is himself blind. "It goes hand-in-hand with justice and education."

Loaves and Fishes, another participating organization, has been a mainstay of the marketplace for years. The Raleigh nonprofit provides after-school tutoring to at-risk children. Although it doesn't get more than $1,500 in donations at the marketplace, executive director Susan Duncan says it's the exposure to people that's even more important. "It's a wonderful way to reach out into the community, introduce volunteer opportunities and talk about our mission."

The event is not just a bare-bones check-writing event. Church members decorate the hall and set up a "marketplace cafe," that serves coffee, cookies and sandwiches to those who come to shop. Some alternative markets put more emphasis on crafts made by people in underdeveloped nations.

Susan Lane, a member of Community, says she donates some money to each of the agencies represented and loves hearing about the good work they do.

"It feels good to do this," says Lane. "Our church doesn't get any reward for this. It's the spiritual well-being we get."