"Couch Commerce" Can Ease Holiday Shopping Stress!

With the holidays not too far into the future, we can start to feel the pressure. For two weeks, we've been bombarded with "incentives" to get to the stores ASAP, or else the deals would pass us by.

But now you can breathe a sigh of relief and relax this weekend. With just a few clicks on your keypad, you can put a major dent in your Christmas shopping list.

The Red Cross Holiday gift catalog is the place to shop for gifts that mean something. As you browse the catalog, you not only see how you can help, but you also become informed of exactly what the Red Cross does. The global scope of service is inspiring.

One line of gifts centers around those currently serving in the armed forces. You can send a military comfort kit to a wounded service member. The kit provides them with a robe, shower shoes, a phone card to call home and an MP3 music gift card. Another way to give back to our brave service members is by buying a Hygiene Kit for homeless vets. A staggering one third of homeless adults are veterans. This kit provides them a toothbrush, shaver, washcloth and other hygiene essentials.

For $75.00 you can buy a bicycle to help a Red Cross volunteer across the globe reach remote villages. You can help provide support for first responders, as they battle against disaster. You can provide food and shelter for victims of disaster worldwide, or right here in your own neighborhood.

However you want to help -- the choice is personal, but the benefit will be universal.

New Ways to Help: Use Serve and Double Your Donation

The American Red Cross now has a new "wonder widget" available. With just a few clicks, you can double your donation. The Red Cross invited Charlotte Fuller, who works on the Public Affairs team at American Express to share some insights on Serve.

Anne Marie Borrego: Hi Charlotte. First, I have to ask, what exactly is Serve?

Charlotte: Serve is a new product from American Express that allows you to send and receive money from friends and family. You can access Serve online or through your mobile device or use your Serve card to make purchases everywhere American Express Cards are accepted.

To put it simply, we’ve all been in situations where we need to settle up with friends, go in on a gift, split the check or raise money for a cause – Serve makes it easy to move money wherever you are.

Anne Marie Borrego: That’s helpful. So you’ve set up this special widget for the Red Cross. How does it work?

Charlotte: We’ve developed a Serve Red Cross Charity Widget that can easily be downloaded to any web site, blog or social media page so that our customers and their friends can donate to the American Red Cross in just a few clicks.

As part of this partnership Serve will match contributions made through the Widget throughout the holiday season.

Anne Marie Borrego: I should pause here and say thank you. Matching gifts like this help us stay out there with our shelters, show up when a house catches fire and do all of the good work that the nation relies on us to do.

Charlotte: You’re very welcome. We, at Serve, are thankful and excited to partner with such an important organization to help make a difference this holiday season.

The money raised will fund critical needs like shelters, hot meals, and relief supplies to those affected by hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, earthquakes, and floods.

Anne Marie Borrego: One last question-after making a donation, I might want to share the widget with my friends. Can I do that?

Charlotte: To help us spread the world and encourage your friends to participate, download the American Red Cross Charity Widget on your blog, Facebook page or any of the social networks you hang out, or simply go to the Red Cross Site to donate and help us reach the maximum goal this holiday season – every dollar counts!

To find out more, please go to: https://widgets.servevirtual.net/ViewWidget.aspx?wid=2183

Give the Gift That Saves the Day!

Now, more than ever, people want their gifts to really matter. In this season of hope, consider a gift that truly "keeps on giving". The Red Cross responds to 70,000 disasters a year. Please consider giving the gift of hope to a family in need this holiday season by choosing something meaningful for a loved one from our Holiday Giving Catalog. During checkout, you will have the opportunity to create personalized cards, letting your friends and family know you have honored them with a Red Cross gift, helping people in crisis-down the street, across the country or around the world-with a hot meal, a place to sleep or a shoulder to lean on.

Holiday Giving Catalogue: Give Our Troops a Holiday Gift

This holiday season, give to someone who does so much for your country; give to a service member. When you’re writing your gift list, don’t forget to include someone who hasn’t asked for anything.

Show our service members they’re cared for this holiday season by offering the gift of comfort. Just $50 lets one member of the military know that you care, and you haven't forgotten all they do.

Military comfort kits provide "a little bit of home" to service members who are injured and spending a few days, weeks or months at a military hospital. The kit is filled what they need to stay comfortable and keep in touch while they’re recovering: a phone card, robe, shower shoes, toiletries and an MP3 music gift card.

“My son was critically injured in Afghanistan…knowing that people cared helped my son recover from his wounds.”— Mike & Jackie, parents of a wounded hero, San Francisco, CA

Take a look at other ways to give to our military, or to the American Red Cross around the globe and in the U.S., in our Holiday Giving Catalog.