Mother’s Day gifts that don’t suck

It’s exactly one week to Mother’s Day…Have you got something in mind to celebrate your mom? If you traditionally give to charity in honour of your mother, step it up this year and give a creative gift to support a great cause… You’re the best kid ever!

Give the gift of choice!

Charity gift cards let your mom redeem a donation to a charity of her choice. All four of these sites allow you to customize the message on the gift card.

Network for Good With over $1.2 million charities to choose from, your mom will be able to support her favourite 501(c).

JustGive.org – In addition to an online gift card, you can also select a “Gift Collection” – a group of 4 cause-related organizations to introduce mom to new charities. Groups include: “Animal protection” – “Women’s rights”, etc.

CanadaHelps.org – Love to all the moms of the North! There are over 83,000 CRA-approved Canadian charities to choose from on this web site.

Tisbest.org – There are some cool gift card differentiators on this site. You can upload your own .jpg image for the gift card. You also have the option of sending a cute plastic card in the mail instead of an eCard by email.

You can’t go wrong with jewellery!

Make your mom all sparkly and stuff.

Osteoporosis Canada “Pearls of Wisdom” – Pearl earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Proceeds support OC’s mission to serve people who have, or are at risk for, osteoporosis.

SheBeads – When you buy hand-rolled clay bead necklaces or bracelets you can add one of five different charity beads to the string. Causes include cancer and heart & stroke.

Believe necklace from Suetables. The pendant is a sterling silver tag stamped with “Believe” and hung on a silver ball chain. 20% of proceeds support SickKids Foundation.

Fuck Cancer, Embrace Life – For the mom that doesn’t put up with cancer’s bullshit! Proceeds from these silver bracelets go to InspireHealth, an integrated cancer care centre. The large size works on guys – I’ve seen dudes wearing them and they look cool.

Fun or unusual gifts!

Because your mom is so damn cool.

WWF Animal Adoption – Animal adoption never gets old. Over 100 fuzzy species to choose from and special fabric Mother’s Day gift bags available until May 9. You can also let Mom choose her own animal.

Global Girlfriend – A fair-trade catalog of gifts made by women in the developing world. The 5-30% royalty from each purchase at Global Girlfriend is directed to Camfed’s seed money micro-grant and micro-credit program.

PETA Vegan Mother’s Day chocolates – Vegan chocolates for your mom, made exclusively for PETA by Harbor Candy Shop. And there’s a special chocolate stamped ‘PETA’!

eBay Giving Works – If you haven’t seen anything yet that suits your mom, check out eBay Giving Works. Hundreds of auction items are listed along with the charities they support. You can browse through everything from books to clothes to celebrity experiences.