Gifts and Regifting

You know about regifting.  That’s when you receive too much of something: a third copy of the novel James by Percival Everett, a second air fryer, yet another Hawkeye t-shirt. So, you pass the gift on to someone who doesn’t have these items.  Regifting, though, took on new meaning when Pamela and I visited the headquarters of Heifer International in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Heifer converts cash donations into sustainable agricultural gifts.  For example, your $20 contribution can provide a hungry family in Tanzania with a flock of ducks.  The ducks in turn provide eggs and meat for the family to eat or sell.  They improve crops by consuming weeds and bugs.  They add fertilizer to the fields. And they give birth to ducklings.  It is at this point that regifting comes in and the $20 really pays off. 

When the offspring arrive, the recipient family must give the first ducklings to another family that is also in need. That’s the Heifer version of regifting.  The people at Heifer talk about how empowering it is for someone who has always lived on the margin, to be able to give a gift to a neighbor or friend.  Heifer calls it Passing on the Gift.  For the first time these families are wealthy enough to give to others.

Check your closets. Look in your pantry. Too much stuff? Regift it. Take those books you’ve read that are sitting on your bookshelf, and drop them off at your neighborhood Little Free Library. You got cash for your birthday? Pass it on to someone who needs it more than you do. Giving gifts is a great gift.