{"id":10541,"date":"2015-06-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/core3-789-core3.d2.worldvision.org\/media-center\/world-vision-gift-catalog-20th-anniversary"},"modified":"2022-10-14T11:15:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T18:15:47","slug":"world-vision-gift-catalog-20th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"media-center","link":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/about-us\/media-center\/world-vision-gift-catalog-20th-anniversary","title":{"rendered":"World Vision Gift Catalog 20th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”12986″ img_size=”medium” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Seattle, WA (June 23, 2015) —<\/strong> Over the past two decades, the popularity of the World Vision Gift Catalog<\/a> as a gift-giving alternative has grown substantially, with more than 790,000 donors giving life-changing gifts such as goats, clean water, food and education to 7.3 million people in need around the world. The Catalog’s 20th<\/sup> season comes as a new major scientific study gives evidence that livestock aid is successful in giving the extremely poor a large and lasting economic boost out of poverty; in one country the economic return was an astounding 433 percent. While there are differences between the “graduation programs” examined in the study and World Vision’s model, the results confirm what the Christian humanitarian organization has learned over the past 60 years: When livestock aid is combined with animal management training and a holistic approach to community development it gives people the power to break the cycle of poverty.<\/p>\n

“To the extreme poor an animal like a goat is a gift of hope and that hope has power,” says Cheryl DeBruler, World Vision Gift Catalog manager. “For a destitute single mom, getting out of poverty may seem like it will take a quantum leap. An animal not only provides her and her children with nutrition and income, it changes her mindset by giving her hope for a better life and that injection of optimism can become self-fulfilling.”<\/p>\n

World Vision’s Gift Catalog began in 1996 with a handful of humanitarian gifts. Now the Catalog (which also is online<\/a>) gives shoppers over 250 tangible ways to improve the lives of children, adults and communities in different areas of need, such as clean water, food, education, sexual exploitation and job training, among others. Gifts range in price from $16 to $39,000 and can be made in a loved one’s name. Shoppers also can choose to send a personalized card describing the gift and its impact. Here are other examples of alternative gifts featured in this year’s catalog:<\/p>\n