Gifts of the Season

Pachamama ROC Contributor
1 day ago
6 min read

This month, some of our PARA members reflect on this time of the year and what it means to give and to receive, for the individual, the community, and the world. Among the gifts of this season, are ways we can thoughtfully express our values and show support for the community, truly moving us to a sustainable, just, and spiritually fulfilling future.

Margot Fass

Considering what to give, in a way that is sustainable and healthy for your family and friends and the planet? This year A Frog House Elderberry Shrubs produced enough elderberries to make 30 eight-ounce bottles of delicious flavorful juice and to leave some for the birds. These will make lovely gifts, in my mind at least, and I hope the recipients appreciate them. Benefits include support for the immune system, heart health, blood sugar control and gut health, as well as reducing inflammation.

Also, I’ve been fond of Heifer Project for gifts that "keep on giving”. This global organization seems to have a good reputation and has a unique idea. Providing livestock enables poor families to eat; to improve their income through sale of livestock products, and teaches regenerative and efficient farming techniques.

Mary Nelson

Holiday Giving

In the majority of past years, I have handmade most of the holiday gifts that I have given. This year because of the state of our country I am rethinking my normal giving process, and I have a new idea of what I would like to do.

I believe this year that I would like to donate money to those places that I know are in desperate need. I am thinking I will give to the discretionary fund at my church, which is something anyone can do in their own churches. I am also thinking I would like to give to a local food bank as they are in desperate need of more food supplies. I am also hoping to find a way that I can give monetarily to immigrants who need help and to our local Indigenous allies. I also hope all of us will look for ways that we can be in service to those who need us. I hope these ideas will serve to get everyone thinking how they can best use their services and their purchasing.

Always leave people better than you found them!

Padme Livingstone

Here are my thoughts/experiences about Christmas shopping.

When my kids were pre-teen and teenagers, my husband and I realized we wanted to cut down on our Xmas shopping. We were concerned about contributing to this world of “never enough”. We also, however, wanted our tree to have a pile of presents. We created a game for giving gifts. We pulled names from a hat for two parts of the game. Part one, was to stealthily steal one item to wrap and give back on Xmas from the person we picked from the hat. Part two, was to wrap and give away something that was ours to a different name we had picked from the hat.

Our tree looked great and we had fun playing thief, practicing generosity, and, without spending a cent, we filled our tree with 8 more presents underneath on Xmas morning.

Caveat: although everyone contributed, not everyone in the family got into the spirit of the game.

Years later, as the number of my grandchildren grew, I realized it was way easier, simpler for me, and better for all, to give family membership as gifts to places my children suggested. The zoo, museum, or play spaces have been my go to. I feel better encouraging family times. Also, there’s no plastic to throw away, and zero support for the wild attachment to more and more stuff. I prefer supporting values deeply embedded in family connection, play, learning and nature.

Sue Staropoli

As we enter the "holiday season," too often the immediate thought, in our culture, is shopping! Black Friday becomes another sacred holiday for some - and consumerism is off and running!

Instead of doing internal reflection in preparation for the real meaning of the holidays (whatever your tradition) - it seems the focus is outside on the external activity of shopping, decorating and giving gifts.

What messages and what expectations are we giving the next generations as we flood them with material things - and not the heart gifts of presence and experiences, that I believe they really crave? These are the questions I'm exploring myself as I think about my own gift-giving and receiving.

I know that I'm especially grateful for the gifts I often receive from my family: donations to causes they know I care about, special thoughtful certificates for experiences they know I'd enjoy, (especially time with them!), or books bought locally, they know I'd appreciate.

I've also been inspired by some families who convey their values to their kids by explicitly talking to them about how much they have and how many families there are who have very little. In this way they invite their kids to join them in limiting their own gifts and using those funds to donate to others. These conversations allow the families to explore together those places where they can focus their gifts and perhaps engage personally with other families or people in need.

While giving and receiving gifts can be a very meaningful and thoughtful activity, these times invite us to a deeper dive into our values and priorities. This reflection can lead us to recognize that we are part of a much bigger cultural transformation, that we need to move in a new direction of compassion, generosity, sustainability, appreciation for what we have, living in the present moment, valuing relationships and experiences more than consuming more "stuff," etc. I hope the crises of our times will be an opportunity for us all to do the soul-searching needed to change our habits and ways so we can truly celebrate the holidays in meaningful ways.

These are my hopes and dreams for this being a time of new possibility for us all......... (edited)

Victoria Zelin-Cloud

As the year winds down and Rochester glimmers with lights, candles, and celebrations of all kinds, many of us reflect on the ways we honor the people we love. It’s a season full of warmth—and also full of gifting. But how do we express appreciation without fueling consumerism?

Paul Winnie from the Tonawanda Indian Reservation once said the greatest challenge facing the Earth is consumerism—our cycle of buying, discarding, and repeating. His insight wasn’t judgmental; it was simply true. And the holidays, at their heart, aren’t about guilt but about connection.

So perhaps it’s time to rethink gifting.

Gifting Outside the Box

Many of us have chosen presents that didn’t quite land. The sweater returned, the gadget forgotten, the toy briefly loved. Much of this ends up in landfills or in piles of unsold returns.

So we can try something gentler: gift when inspiration strikes, ask what people want, or send a photo first. My daughter’s family in Portland—living small with a lively toddler—prefers money or shared, used items. Their community passes baby gear, toys, and clothing from family to family. It’s not anti-gift; it’s loving and practical.

Rochester’s Circular Treasures

We’re fortunate to have places like Greenovation, thrift stores, MAG and RMSC sales, and neighborhood swaps. Buying used is creative and joyful—and a lot of friendships form in these spaces. Even a sidewalk “free” table is an act of community.

When we’re done with something, we can keep it moving through Buy Nothing groups, Freecycle, Goodwill, consignment shops, or trading with neighbors.

Repair as Community

The Repair Café, founded by Georgia Carney, is another jewel of Rochester’s circular economy. Volunteers repair lamps, clothing, appliances, electronics—you name it—while chatting, laughing, and building community. It’s sustainability braided with connection.

SEAC’s Tool Shed

Rochester’s own SEAC Tool Shed offers a $25 annual membership for borrowing lawnmowers, power tools, tables, ladders—things many of us don’t need to own. Their University Ave shop is beautifully organized, and their new mobile tool truck brings the library into city neighborhoods, making borrowing possible for people without cars.

Fruition Seeds: A Bold Step Into the Future

Petra and Matthew of Fruition Seeds have taken a courageous leap into sharing-based living: they now gift all the seeds they grow. They believe seeds belong to Mother Earth, not to them. Instead of selling seed packets, they rely on community donations and publish a “needs list” of tools and materials supporters can gift. They maintain a transparent budget for the farm, and a nonprofit for monetary donations. In this way, they can fulfill their financial commitments like bills, which can’t be covered by sharing material things. Without this aspect, they could not maintain their outreach.

Their lives overflow with connection because of the deep love and generosity they’ve cultivated. They are role models for a future where shared abundance replaces scarcity. It’s an education in itself to read how they see “needs” as “gifts.”

A Season of True Connection

This holiday season may our gifts—borrowed, repaired, repurposed, thrifted, grown, or shared—carry the warmth of connection rather than obligation. May we shift, little by little, into the abundant world we’re creating together.