Shopping for Good: The Alternative Christmas Shop
Alternative Christmas Shop co-chair Jennifer Conway (left), committee member Autumn Mansor, and 12-year-old Keegan Mansor. Keegan’s first-ever shop purchase — for a friend who loves fish — was a donation to help save a coral reef. Photo: Sadie Mansor
“Having more stuff can be a real hassle,” says Jeannine Anckaitis.
Anckaitis has moved half a dozen times and lived in some small apartments, and she is eager to give and receive gifts that don’t add clutter. “When our daughter was born,” she recalls, “we received more than our small space (and our small child!) could easily accommodate.”
By the girl’s first birthday, the parents had a plan. “Having recently been emotionally touched by the amazing Dr. John Alston and the Chester Children’s Chorus” that Alston directs, Anckaitis says, “we requested that donations be made to them in her name.”
The habit of valuing gifts that help worthy causes stuck. These days, Anckaitis does much of her holiday shopping at the Alternative Christmas Shop, a project of the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. The shop offers the opportunity to purchase “gifts” that are actually (tax-deductible) donations in the gift recipient’s name, supporting any one of 23 local, national, or global charities, all of which have been vetted by the shop’s organizing committee. Recipients receive a card with a description of the charity. The project raises about $20,000 each year, according to Bob Hall, co-chair of the committee.
This year, because of COVID-19, the shop will be entirely virtual. Organizers hope this will expand its reach. “Watch out, Amazon!” Hall says.
Gifts are priced between $10 and $20, with 100% of the purchase price going directly to the charities the program supports. Examples include: the Foundry Church Food Pantry in Wallingford (addressing food insecurity); Lifetime Wells International (improving access to clean water in Ghana and Tanzania); Puppets for Peace (supporting art programs for Palestinian schoolchildren); and Peter’s Place (a Delaware County support center for grieving children and families).
Anckaitis, who buys both Christmas and Hanukkah gifts at the shop, says the variety of charities enables her to tailor her choices to a wide range of individual concerns. “For my cousin who had recently honeymooned in the Caribbean, a donation to save the coral reefs. For my retired-military father-in-law, a donation to help wounded vets. For our soccer-loving au pair, a ball — to be sent to a child who has not much else.”
