November 4, 2004

NEW YORK - Planning now to feature holiday gifts that make a difference and stand out from the usual sea of sweaters, ties, tech toys and gadgets?

A new Heart to Heart Kids Kit from global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) is offering a gift alternative that lets the gift-giver and his or her intended recipient reach beyond themselvesto children suffering from disasters and trauma.

Intended for children in the U.S. and abroad, the new kids kit is a gift that is bigger than the sum of its parts.

The culturally- and gender-neutral Heart to Heart Kids Kits contain toys, school supplies and personal hygiene items: a small stuffed bear, a small, soft, colored ball, a harmonica or other small musical instrument, a slinky, yo-yo and jumprope; paper, pencils, a pencil sharpener, an eraser, crayons, a ruler and a pair of blunt scissors; and a comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. Each kit, packed in a child-proportioned plastic container, is valued at $24.

And, like all other Church World Service Gift of the Heart Emergency Kits, there are no markings, no messages and no religious references to influence the altruistic intent of the gift.

A number of agencies such as Church World Service distribute emergency hygiene, school and baby kits to victims of crisis, or emergency cleanup buckets for storm victims. But, says Judy McDowell, Church World Service Director for Community Fundraising, "Heart to Heart Kits go a little furtherby providing toys to help restore what children lose in a crisis and trauma: their childhood."

Individuals can send cash donations to Church World Service, equaling the total cost for the number of kits they wish to contribute plus $3 per kit for shipping. Or they can purchase the designated contents for kits, then assemble and send the kits to Church World Service for distribution to children worldwide. Instructions are on the CWS website.

The humanitarian agency says its Heart to Heart Kids Kits have the potential to create even greater circles of giving. "We're encouraging families, relatives, friends, church groups, scout troops and school classes to collect kit contents," says CWS' McDowell, "then get together and assemble Heart to Heart Kids Kits as a project and ship them all to Church World Service for distribution.

"That way," she says, "whole groups of people increase the spirit of giving by working together. And that," adds McDowell, "has a currency all its own."

CWS also suggests that businesses this holiday season consider making cash contributions earmarked for Heart to Heart Kits in theirs and the business gift recipients' names. "It's a creative alternative to the ubiquitous paperweight, fruit basket or key ring," says McDowell."

McDowell suggests that kit contributors can "then send their intended gift recipients a holiday card that says something like, This season, we're giving your gift away to some kids who need all the help we can give.'" CWS also offers free downloadable greeting cards designed for this purpose.

Church World Service tested its new Heart to Heart kits earlier this year with a tough audience: In April, a youth group from Montclair, New Jersey, traveled to CWS' distribution center in New Windsor, Maryland, to assemble an initial inventory of the kits. "They gave a resounding thumbs up to the contents," said McDowell.

Church World Service provides sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief, advocacy and refugee assistance worldwide and disaster recovery services domestically. CWS is supported in part by 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations. In addition to public contributions, major gifts and grants from the public sector, Church World Service's 2,000+ community-based CROP Walks raise funds nationally each year to combat hunger locally and globally.

With a strong focus on children, CWS has provided medical and health assistance to the children of Iraq for more than a decade and has targeted the issues of orphans and vulnerable children as a priority for its current multi-year Africa Initiative.

For more information on Church World Service Heart to Heart Kits, visit http://www.churchworldservice.org/kits/kids-kits.html. For instructions on making a donation, visit https://secure.churchworldservice.org/.

Church World Service