Try something that a lot of people are doing this holiday season: turn presents into charity. Instead of asking family members for new cell phones, sports equipment, or clothing, many people are asking for money to be donated to their charity of choice in their honor.

When families learn to give donations instead of gifts, they understand that their connection to one another isn’t based on the money they spend on each other, but the care they have for one another. Give a card with a personal message along with a card from the organization.

The important thing is to make sure you’re not being a hypocrite! Don’t ask everyone in your family for a present, and then tell them you didn’t buy them presents because you donated money in their honor. Put your money where your mouth is.

But you also don’t have to go Cold Turkey. Declare to all siblings or cousins that you don’t want presents, but allow Grandma and Grandpa to send you some gelt. (I told my grandparents to donate money to my charity of choice instead of sending me a gift, and they insisted on doing both – oh well!)

The really exciting thing is that you will get some people to support your charity who might not otherwise have gotten you a present. So pick a charity (example, example, example, example…) and inform the family!

And because you’ve been so good, here is my (free!) Chanukah gift for all of you: enjoy these 4 free tunes from The Leevees.

And now it’s your turn to give an easy present. Play FreeRice.com‘s vocab challenge, and help send food those who need it most around the world. Who knows, you might learn something while you’re at it!

After attending the Fall 2007 Eimatai conference, students from the Queens Gymnasia decided to initiate a program to rally their fellow students around a common cause. This conference marked what will hopefully be the first of many participations for Gymnasia students at Eimatai events.

The students teamed up with Chai Lifeline for a school-wide toy drive in the weeks preceding Chanukah. With a collection bin set up in the school’s lobby, students brought in loads of toys to be distributed to needy kids on Chanukah.

Ethan Bienenfeld, the group’s Eimatai advisor, met with the four students Tammy Ilyadzhanova, Anetta Koltun, Eddie Aulov, and Roma Ibragimov on the final day of the collection for a mini-ceremony celebrating their success.

Future projects planned by the Gymnasia group include efforts to raise money for student programming that will include a barbeque for the boys, and an ice skating trip for the girls.