Not too late to help your neighbor
Barefooted children in the sand, as captured by Greensboro artist Janice Burns in varying portraits, grace the cover of this year's Family Service of the Piedmont's 2008 honor card, which raises money to strengthen local families.
Family Service will send a card to acknowledge honor or memorial gifts of a minimum $10, or gift sets of 10 blank cards and envelopes are available for $15. Cards can be ordered through the website, at www.safeandhealthyfamilies.com/give , or by calling the Family Service office at (Greensboro) 387-6161 or (High Point) 889-6161 .
The cards, which are not holiday specific, help raise money used year round to provide crisis services ranging from bankrupty and domestic violence, to a variety of phobias.
Check out these other honor cards that help fund everything from food and shelter to mattresses for needy children:
This year's FaithAction International House card (http://faihouse.org/id19.html) is a colorful globe held up by the hands of a multicultural group of children. The card "that you can use to let someone special know you’ve been thinking of them, at the holidays or just because," according to the Web site, is available for a minimum donation of $10.
A $25 donation to the nonprofit can provide a bed or mattress for a child. Every $50 can provide 12 weeks of English instruction for an immigrant or refugee. And $2,500 provides a one-month sponsorship of the nonprofit’s Immigrant Assistance Center.
For one-stop shopping, honor cards for a wide range of ministries, including those benefiting Greensboro Urban Ministry (www.greensboro
urbanministry.org), which serves the homeless, hungry and poor, are carried by The Sacred Garden Bookstore at 215 W. Fisher Ave.
The store is two doors down from Holy Trinity Episcopal Church — with which it is affiliated — at West Fisher Avenue and Simpson Street.
The options include, for example, the Barnabas Network Honor Cards (http://thebarnabasnetwork.org), which uses the money to support its “No Child on the Floor” campaign of buying beds and even the sheets to go with them.
For Mary's House, an ecumenical project (www.online greensboro.com/~maryshouse/Volunteer.htm), the cards are designed to provide support and the ability for women to live with their children while working through addictions.
The bookstore also offers The Servant Center (http://theservantcenter.org) card to support services for the low income and the disabled — including five hospice beds for terminally ill veterans.
The Salvation Army’s card (235-0353 or 1311 S. Eugene St.) includes a painting of Santa with a child on his lap and others surrounding him, by local artist Judy Meyler, with the inscription:
"Of all the gifts that are given
"The blessings of comfort and joy
"Bestowed upon a child in need
"Best honors the greatest gift given
"That first Christmas morning."
The mission-based Habitat for Humanity of Greater Greensboro’s goal (www. habitatgreensboro.org/donate/other.php) is to help low-income homeowners achieve self-sufficiency through affordable housing.
Cost of that toilet: $75. That kitchen sink: $35. A window: $100.
Habitat card's cover reads, "Every day holds ... the possibility of a miracle," with hands holding a brightly lit snow globe with a home inside and wording inside saying the gift was donated in the recipient’s name. The cards bring in about $30,000 annually and are available at the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Greensboro office at 617 N. Elm St.
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