When we created the Giving Card at the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, I had no idea that it would be the cure for the birthday party panic attack. That's right, the birthday party panic attack. You know, the feeling you get when you look at the calendar at 1:50 on a Saturday afternoon and realize that you've got to get the five-year-old to a birthday party across town in ten minutes flat and you have no gift. What to do? Rummage around in the wrapping paper closet hoping to find a stray stocking stuffer buried somewhere among the scraps? Raid your kids' closets for the least-used looking toy? Search the bookshelf for something the kids have never read? We've all been there.
Enter the Giving Card, available exclusively through the Community Foundation. (Click the image to check out more new designs, launched today!) I work here, so it is easy for me 
to stock up, but you can, too, without even leaving your house because it's all online. The way it works is simple. You order Giving Cards, available in denominations of $25, 50, or $100, on the Community Foundation's Web site. (The total purchase price is a charitable tax deduction for you!) You receive the cards in the mail. You or your kids give the cards as gifts, and the recipient gets to go online to choose a charity anywhere in the country to receive the face amount of the card. Kids love it! And the parents of the birthday boy or girl appreciate the opportunity for a teaching moment about the importance of giving back. It's also a chance for the child to learn about different charities online and make a choice about where to give the money. Giving the gift of giving in such a tangible way has taught my eight-year-old and five-year-old some very good lessons, and I'm going to get the two-year-old started just as soon as I can. I must confess, though, that they still say "Mommy, let's give the Giving Card AND a Webkinz."
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