Looking to buy someone a cow this holiday season? Or maybe a camel instead?
These are just two of the gifts that can be purchased through Boston-based international relief organization Oxfam America’s online catalog, Oxfam America Unwrapped. The Website, which launched Tuesday as part of Oxfam America’s holiday gift-giving campaign, allows consumers to give money to help impoverished people around the world buy farm animals, plant gardens, and become more self-sufficient.
The 36 gifts that can be purchased are representative of the services that Oxfam America provides, says spokesperson Paulette Song. The person in whose name the donation was made receives a gift card with a picture of the purchase or contribution to its programs. Prices for gifts range from $18 for a set of water jugs to $7,500 to build a worker’s rights center.
Oxfam America is using the Website to test the viability of a print catalog, such as the one launched last year in Great Britain. “Print is something we are interested in, but we want to start with an online catalog first,” Song says. “We feel the public is pretty media-savvy and an online-savvy bunch.”