Last minute doesn't have to mean last resort: With a click and a print, give a memorable gift that changes a life

SEATTLE, Dec. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The final rush is on for the holiday season – both in stores and online. A recent study found that a third of shoppers hadn't even started checking people off their Christmas list until well into December. Last year 1 in 5 adults said they would wait until the weekend before Christmas to buy a single present.

Now with less than a week to go, procrastinators may be feeling more like Scrooge at the thought of facing impossible shipping deadlines, packed stores and panic over what to get the person who has everything.

But waiting until the last minute doesn't have to mean compromising the search for the perfect gift without the stress. The World Vision Gift Catalog offers more than a hundred options to fit the interest of every person on a shopper's list while also offering help to a family in need, and it all can be done online with the click of a mouse.

"It really is the ultimate feel-good present for the holidays for both the gift giver and the receiver," said Cheryl DeBruler, World Vision's Gift Catalog Manager. "The gifts can be tailored to fit the passion of those on your list – whether it's helping children caught up in conflict, empowering a mother to start her own business, or teaching your children about the true meaning of the holidays. And it's so easy to do." 

Gifts in World Vision's Gift Catalog range from $16 (the price of an average t-shirt) to $39,000 and can be purchased in a loved one's name. When an individual gives through the Catalog, they can make the donation in the name of a loved one and immediately print or mail a card describing the gift's impact. Here are some of the gifts featured in this year's catalog:

• Go beyond the headlines: It's been hard to miss the heartbreaking pictures and videos of the millions of children forced to flee their homes due to the Syria conflict. Give a donation in a loved one's name to provide food, water, education and psychosocial counseling to children suffering in the crisis.
• Give girl power: For an adventurer, teacher, or a young girl ready to change the world, give a gift that impacts that next generation of woman leaders, from income-generating livestock to a bicycle or supporting education for a girl.
• Teach children the joy of giving: Help children learn about others around the world and get beyond the 'Christmas gimmies'. The World Vision Gift Catalog offers inexpensive items like 2 soccer balls ($16) or solar lanterns ($20) to help children do their homework in the evenings in places where there is no electricity.

Last fiscal year more than 122,000 donors purchased more than 297,000 gifts, helping more than 650,000 people around the world. To order from World Vision's Gift Catalog, visit www.worldvisiongifts.org or call 855-WV-GIFTS.

About the World Vision Gift Catalog:
Since 1996, the World Vision Gift Catalog has given people the opportunity to better the lives of children, adults and communities in the U.S. and around the world through hundreds of gifts in all different areas of need: clean water, food, education, sexual exploitation, job training and others. In fiscal year 2015, more than 122,000 donors gave more than 297,000 items from the Gift Catalog helping more than 650,000 people around the world. To order from World Vision's Gift Catalog, visit www.worldvisiongifts.org or call toll-free at 855-WV-GIFTS. Want to see where your dollars go? Watch how the Gift Catalog works through the World Vision YouTube channel.

About World Vision:
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization conducting relief, development, and advocacy activities in its work with children, families, and their communities in nearly 100 countries to help them reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more information, please visit www.WorldVision.org/media or follow us on Twitter @WorldVisionNews.

SOURCE World Vision

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