‘Tis the season to give, but let’s make it the season to give back. Last year the average American spent almost $900 on gifts for the holidays. Yes, even in the recession.

So with that big of a budget spent for Christmas joy, how much of that do you think went to charity?

Now, I’m no number crunchers geek, but I doubt that it was much. I’m not going to lie to you guys, I didn’t give to charity either. I would give a couple dollars to the Salvation Army outside of Walmart and the grocery store once or twice, but for the majority of December, if I saw that sad Santa jingling his bell on one end of the store, I would take the long journey to the other end to exit. (Times were hard for me too, okay?)

Obviously there are others that need help, and even though we think money may be tight for us, there are others where they have absolutely no money at all, or they might have something big happening in their life that we can’t even imagine.

Without getting all Reverend on you, plain and simple — let’s give! And while a one-time donation is great, a small monthly contribution is even better. Even if it’s $10 a month.)

Here are some charities to start out with:

• Hurricane Katrina and Rita Relief & Recovery — New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast is still in disarray. And if you don’t know, watch Spike Lee’s documentary When the Levees Broke. They still very much need our help.
• Keep a Child Alive — The organization co-founded by Alicia Keys provides treatment to children and families that have been affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India, Over 250,000 people have been helped so far. A $30 donation can give treatment to someone for 30 days. If you look through the website, you can see what one month’s supply of treatment can do. It’s amazing.
• New Eyes for the Needy — For someone who wears glasses, such as myself, vision is very important. New Eyes for the Needy, which has been around since 1932, has given over seven million pairs of glasses to people around the world. A $60 donation buys a new pair of glasses, which is great because glasses are very costly. If you don’t want to give a monetary donation, that’s okay, because New Eyes takes used eyeglasses too.

These are great charities to start out with, but if you have others to suggest, please feel free to share!