Photo by Flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mongol/">mngl</a>
If you’re like me, you a) have a mom who calls to remind you every time PBS airs a documentary about people suffering and b) have not yet sent her a Mother’s Day present because you’re a bad kid. And if that’s the case, you might find it useful to know that a couple of aid organizations are offering inspiring presents for varying prices but all with the option of a nice-looking, instantly deliverable e-card. The International Rescue Committee has a store stocked with life-saving goodies you can donate in your mom’s name, everything from $18 worth of mosquito nets for a whole family to an $87 bicycle to $5,000 for clinic supplies in a war zone. Mercy Corps makes kits, like the Women’s Leadership Kit, which supports programs that educate and train women. I think my favorite is the Camel Kit, which delivers enough vaccinations to protect five camels from camel-killing diseases to herders in Mongolia. If you’re incredibly broke, and/or your mother is really hardcore, Amnesty International has made an electronic Mother’s Day card that says, essentially, “I’m not getting you flowers or breakfast in bed, and you should write a strongly worded letter about maternal health to Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius.” (Or you could send flowers, but from a company that donates to Amnesty.) Either way, we’ve got two days left to get it together.
