2014 World Vision Catalog - Making A Difference in Lives Across the World {Giveaway}

*Disclosure- I received an item to help facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

I am excited to be working with World Vision again this year! For those of you who are unfamiliar with World Vision, they are charitable organization that help poverty stricken people with means to better their lives. World Vision offers many programs designed to help eradicate poverty and provide hope to nearly 100 countries around the world. Through their gift catalogs, that are now in their 19th year, you can help those in need with a small donation, which would be a very generous gift to the recipient. There are more than 100 meaningful gifts in the paper catalog, starting at just $16. The online World Vision catalog offers more than 250 items. You can chose to gift items such as job training, school supplies, or live animals.

Reading through the catalog, there is a short paragraph detailing how your gift helps. For example, you can read how Super Nets protect children from malaria: 

Mosquitos kill nearly 655,000 people every year. Preventing this deadly disease is out of reach for many poor African families. Your gift will provide one of the best ways to protect children from malaria -bed nets- as well as critical education for prevention and control. 

Bed nets for 5 families - $90
Bed nets for 3 families - $54
Bed nets for 1 family - $18.

It amazes me how many lives could be saved with a small $18 donation!

In 2013, more than 350,000 animals were donated. Goats continue to be the most popular animal to give, as they provide a family with many benefits. Milk, cheese and yogurt provide protein to help children grow, the fertilizer increase the amount of vegetables grown in the family garden, and any surplus milk, cheese and yogurt can be sold in market to help earn money for other necessities, like medicine and clothing. A goat really is the gift that keeps on giving! Other popular gifting items include sheep, chickens, soccer balls, ducks, and education for a child.

83% of World Vision's total operating expenses are used for programs that benefit children, families, and communities in need. In the 2013 fiscal year more than $33.7 million was raised through the World Vision Gift Catalog, and that helped more than 844,000 people around the world!

More Examples of life changing gifts:

Fight Poverty in America: Feed a family in the U.S. for a day ($18), give a child a backpack filled with essential school supplies ($22) or help disaster relief in the U.S. ($50).

Stock a School: Give kids in developing countries the books and tools they need to fulfill their potential and lift themselves out of poverty. A gift of $100 provides $800 worth of supplies such as textbooks, teaching materials, desks and more.

If you are planning to donate to a charity this year, please keep World Vision in mind. If you are looking for that hard to buy for person, donors can choose to have a card sent in honor of a loved one, which can be printed or emailed from the website at any time to let an honoree know that something special has been done for them this Christmas.

If you prefer, World Vision offers many tangible, hand crafted gifts that still help to benefit those in need. There are many tangible gifts to chose from in the Hand Crafted Gift section. I personally have a love of natural wood objects, and immediately fell in love with these hand-carved serving spoons.

Each of the gorgeous hand-carved serving spoons are unique, and come in a colorful pouch. They are made to benefit Kenyan orphans of the Kamba tribe, and can be yours for a $65 donation.

There are many other beautiful items, like African soapstone boxes, colorful silk scarves, and fair trade coffee sets, all benefiting the area that makes the most impact.

If you would like to make a life changing donation or place a holiday order, go online to www.worldvisiongifts.org or call 855-WV-GIFTS. Hard copies of the catalog are available on request.

If you would like to learn more about how World Vision is helping individuals and communities across the world, be sure to visit their website.

WIN IT!

One lucky Theresa's Mixed Nuts reader is going to win a set of the above mentioned hand-crafted serving spoons.

The giveaway is open to residents of the U.S., 18+. NO PO Boxes will be accepted. The giveaway will run through 10/9/2014. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning email or a new winner will be selected.

**All entries are verified. Please make sure you are following all task guidelines you claim entries for. Failure to do so will result in your entries being removed from the form.

Entry-Form