Gifts that Give Back: The Ultimate Gift Guide

1. GIVE FOOD TO PETS IN NEED

Shopping for someone passionate about pets? Donate in their name for our annual pet food drive, providing 2 million meals to hungry cats and dogs. Your donation will help shelters care for more animals, rescuing pets from harsh lives on the streets and giving them the chance for a forever home.

2. TRANSPORT SHELTER PETS

You can help make this season brighter for animals in need and fly pets to their new home in time for the holidays. Animal shelters across the country are operating above capacity with more pets in their shelters than they can hold, leaving little hope for homeless pets.

Help us transport pets from under-resourced shelters to rescue organizations in parts of the country with stronger adoption rates. A holiday gift of only $40 can help transport one shelter pet this holiday season. 

3. Give a Care Package to a DOg In Need

As shelters across the country face low adoption rates and are overwhelmed with the amount of pets in their care, they often struggle to afford basic necessities. Due to the high cost of food, vaccinations, bedding, and enrichment needs, shelters often have to limit the number of dogs and puppies they can save and provide homes for, leaving many innocent dogs to fend for themselves. 

You can help by sending a care package. Just $25 can help provide 200 bowls of dog food, two comfy beds, toys and vaccinations for two shelter dogs.

4. GIVE A care package to a cat in need

Shelters across the US are overwhelmed and overcrowded and struggling to care for cats in need. Due to the high cost of basic necessities like food, vaccinations, bedding, and enrichment needs — shelters often have to limit the number of cats they can save, leaving many cats struggling to survive. Together, we can help cats in need this holiday! 

With a tax-deductible gift of just $25, you can help provide 200 bowls of cat food, one warm bed, toys and the vaccination of one shelter cat. 

5. GIVE Emergency care to a dog in need

Chia Seed’s story is one of heartbreak and resilience. She was abandoned at an animal hospital with severe burns covering 30% of her body, a poorly healed fracture, and in desperate need of emergency surgery to save her airways.

Thanks to compassionate caregivers and several lifesaving surgeries, Chia Seed is on the road to recovery. Even better, she’s found her forever family—a place filled with love, cuddles, and endless treats. Your support helps save pets like Chia Seed and allows shelters and rescues to reallocate their funding to other lifesaving programs. With your help, these innocent pets get a second chance at a better life.

6. GIVE EMERGENCY CARE TO A CAT IN NEED

Kimiko was found with an arrow shot through her leg. She was stabilized and rushed into a complicated surgery where two surgeons were able to successfully remove the arrow and perform the additional surgery needed for her recovery. 

Thanks to generous donations, Kimiko not only received the surgery she desperately needed but the hope that every animal deserves. Now, she’s in a loving forever home, flourishing and enjoying life to the fullest. Your support helps save pets like Kimiko and allows shelters and rescues to reallocate their funding to other lifesaving programs.

1. HOLIDAY HIVE DRIVE TO SAVE

This holiday season, your help is urgently needed to save the bees. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have wiped out plant forage and damaged beehives, threatening the starvation of billions of bees used to pollinate food crops across the country.  

Greater Good Charities has already provided 58,000 gallons of syrup and nearly 62,000 pounds of pollen substitute to beekeepers in Florida, feeding more than 10.5 billion bees. We’ve also provided 21,000 pounds of sugar to North Carolina beekeepers to help feed their hives. But our work is far from finished. We need your help to deliver 3 more rounds of food to ensure bees can survive through the winter and make the trek to states across the nation to pollinate next year's crops.

Donate today and help us reach our goal of $300,000 of aid for beehives in need. Thanks to a generous donor, your gift will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $65,000!

2. HELP SAVE MANATEES

Manatees are a threatened species. Each year, they are brought to rehabilitation facilities in Florida because they are starving, injured in boat strikes or fishing net entanglements, or plagued by toxic algae such as red tide.

This holiday season, Greater Good Charities is partnering with Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) to rebuild its facility after Hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded the aquarium. This destroyed the their essential life-support systems, which kept the water safe for the animals. We urgently need your support to rebuild so CMA can continue rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing manatees back into the wild.

Join us in protecting threatened species and vital ecosystems. Make a holiday gift today to help rebuild Clearwater Marine Aquarium and save manatees.

3. HELP SAVE THE ENDANGERED RED WOLF

There are currently less than 20 individual red wolves living in the wild. Red wolves are dying along at an alarming rate due to vehicle strikes on US Highway 64 in eastern North Carolina. In the last 14 months alone, 5 endangered red wolves have been killed by vehicle strikes. 

In partnership with the Center for Biological Diversity, we’re helping to build a wildlife crossing across US 64 to ensure a future for this rare and remarkable species. Will you help us make the world a safer place for the endangered red wolf? 

4. PROTECT THE WORLD'S MOST TRAFFICKED ANIMAL

The pangolin, known for its beautiful, armor-like scales, is rapidly disappearing. They are the most trafficked mammal in the world due to being illegally poached for their meat and scales. Now, pangolins are critically endangered and only a few remain in the wild. This holiday, you can help fund safe enclosures that act as rehabilitation centers for pangolins rescued from the trafficking trade and to help them breed. We need help NOW to intervene before we lose this animal for good. 

5. SAVE BURNED JAGUARS

When wildfires tore through Brazil's wetlands, endangered jaguars suffered from severe burns and smoke inhalation. Among these was Itapira. She had burns on all four paws, was severely dehydrated, and was too weak to survive on her own. After waiting a day without any sign of improvement, the decision was made to sedate her and perform a rescue.

Greater Good Charities is partnering with teams on the ground to provide lifesaving medical care to jaguars like Itapira who were injured during the fires. 

6. GIVE THE GIFT OF SPECIES & HABITAT PROTECTION

Biodiversity is crucial to our planet’s survival and we're running out of time. Human influence has marked our planet, leaving many species on the brink of extinction, 30-50% of which might be gone by mid-century. 

With your donations, we're working to save endangered, threatened, and at-risk species such as manatees, jaguars, and red wolves. 

1. GIVE THE GIFT OF COMFORT TO VETERANS AND THEIR PETS

This holiday season, around 35,000 veterans are experiencing homelessness, many with pets. They face the freezing winter temperatures without even the bare necessities. Because most homeless shelters do not allow pets, veterans without stable housing are forced to choose between staying with their pets in the cold streets or checking into a shelter and abandoning the only family they know.

Together, we can make a difference this winter. Your donation can help Greater Good Charities deliver Good Packs loaded with blankets, food, hygiene items, pet toys, treats, and more. Just $25 can help provide a Good Pack to a veteran and their pet experiencing homelessness. They fought for you; now you can fight for them.

2. HELP RENOVATE SHELTERS FOR PEOPLE AND PETS IN NEED

Shelters nationwide are facing unprecedented challenges, with tight budgets and growing demands for support. That’s where we step in. Our team brings life-changing projects to shelters, transforming ideas into reality to create brighter futures for people, pets, and wildlife. 

3. SEND A GOOD PACK TO AN AMERICAN AND THEIR PET EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

Every night, thousands of unhoused people forgo shelter to preserve their bond with a cherished dog or other pet. A shortage of pet-friendly shelters means individuals dedicated to remaining with their beloved pets are often forced to choose between seeking shelter or staying with their animal companions. 

1. SEND A WINTER RELIEF KIT TO A STRUGGLING FAMILY IN UKRAINE

For many, the holiday season is a time of joy, togetherness, and family; for Ukrainians facing winter in a war-torn country, the holidays are a bitter reminder of all that they’ve lost. With freezing temperatures, destroyed villages, no electricity, and the constant fear of explosives outdoors, the festive spirit is often overshadowed. Will you help restore some holiday comforts to Ukraine? Your donation will provide a Winter Relief Kit, packed with essentials like a blanket, soap, toothbrushes, detergent, shampoo, toilet paper, towels, and more, bringing warmth and hope during this holiday season.

2. KEEP UKRAINIAN SHELTER PETS WARM

When Russia invaded Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians were forced to make an impossible decision - to flee immediately and leave their beloved pet behind, or stay and face imminent danger for themselves and their pet. While many fled without their pets, many brave Ukrainians remained and now care for the pets left behind. Pets are now receiving care and protection from local residents in makeshift animal shelters across the country, built from whatever materials they could find.

With temperatures dropping, these pets are in danger once again - this time from life-threatening cold and starvation. In response, Greater Good Charities is providing pet food and dog houses to struggling shelters. Your gift today can help provide safe, warm enclosures and nourishing pet food for Ukrainian pets throughout the winter months.

3. SEND AID TO COMMUNITIES RECOVERING FROM HURRICANES MILTON AND HELENE

Communities in Western North Carolina are still reeling from back-to-back Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Families have lost everything, from their homes and livelihoods to all the simple things they held dear. This holiday season, in a time typically full of joy and the comforts of home, people across the state will be struggling to support their families and rebuild all they’ve lost.  

Will you help these people in their time of greatest need? Our team is working to distribute emergency food and supplies, such as diapers, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, and other toiletries. We can’t do it without you. Your gift today can help provide vital aid to communities who have lost everything.  

5. BECOME AN AMPLIFIER WITH A MONTHLY GIFT

Looking for a meaningful way to honor a loved one throughout the year? Consider becoming an Amplifier on their behalf. By making a monthly donation in their name, you'll be amplifying the good all year round. Your continuous support directly contributes to Greater Good Charities' vital programs for people, pets, and the planet, making a lasting impact. Join our dedicated group of Amplifiers today and help us create positive change month after month.