Groceries and other essentials are on holiday gift lists this year

[Liberal_in_LA]

Groceries and other essentials are on holiday gift lists this year

With unemployment still high and the economy sluggish, more consumers are wrapping baskets of kitchen staples, boxes of meat and grocery store gift cards to help loved ones stock dwindling pantries.

Last Christmas, Karen Hoxmeier bought her brother a cashmere scarf and several pricey gadgets for his digital camera.

This year, she bought the out-of-work Hollywood cameraman something more essential: groceries.

With the nation's unemployment rate still high and the economy sluggish, a growing number of people are giving food this holiday season. But it's not fruitcake, eggnog or Christmas cookies. Instead, the quiet voice of frugality is prompting consumers to wrap up baskets of kitchen staples, boxes of meat and grocery store gift cards to help loved ones stock dwindling pantries.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hoxmeier got the idea after sneaking a peek inside her younger brother Bill's kitchen cabinets. She found them pretty bare, she said, "even for a guy."

For months, her 35-year-old sibling had cut back to make ends meet. His cable TV? Cancelled. The phone? Long gone. Shopping trips for vegetarian specialties at his favorite market, Trader Joe's? Completely out.

So Hoxmeier headed to the eclectic grocery chain this month to purchase a gift card. "He's getting thin," said Hoxmeier, 37, a mother of three who lives in Murrieta. "He can use food."

--------------------------

For Polly Blitzer, giving groceries was a way to care for an aging loved one. Beatrice Gage, her childhood nanny and a woman Blitzer considers a second mother, lives on a fixed income in rural Louisiana. A recent dentures bill cost Gage $600, eating up half her monthly income.

During a visit in May, Blitzer found limp vegetables in the woman's refrigerator.

"She told me there were still good parts," said Blitzer, 35, editor in chief of Beauty Blitz Media in New York. Blitzer immediately called a market in Louisiana to arrange for $250 worth of grocery credit for the elderly woman. Blitzer contacted the store again this month to add more money to Gage's account.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-food-gift-20101223,0,6677581.story

[wilt the stilt]

1. Republicans give lump of coal

and tell you to be grateful.

[IMATB]

2. We gave the same things.

It's practical, it's needed, it's appreciated. Giving something like groceries or a gas card shows how much you care about the person you gave it to. It's not out of pity. It's out of love.

There were times in my young life I could have used that kind of help.

[Occulus]

3. My mom gave my sis and me each a big bag of household items

Paper towels, toilet paper, paper plates, deodorant, razors, etc. There were other gifts too (lots of clothing), but a marked level of more less expensive things. Each of my nieces got an animal-themed wall calendar for 2011, and their eyes all got big as they opened them.

One of my nieces got an Android tablet from her dad yesterday; I think that was the most expensive gift given. I'd like one of those myself!

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. I like getting 'useful' gifts rather than knick knacks

[GentryDixon]

5. I bought for a low income community.

Having worked at my local food bank I noted what was lacking. Pet food, paper products, diapers. They have an abundance of Macaroni & Cheese at my food bank. Not so much protein products, so I tried to fill that need for the community we adopted to support.

For my son and his family I went to Costco and bought Charmin, razors, coffee beans and AA batteries.

[IMATB]

6. I thought I was the only one that gave batteries.

A few years ago I did the household stuff for someone. I even had a shower curtain and rod for the bathroom. To this day he still tells me that was the best gift he ever got. Matter of fact, he's stopping by on his way home from Florida just to see us. I love that kid.

[knitter4democracy]

7. That's what Santa gave me.

I fill my own stocking, so I put in there what I knew I needed--kitchen sponges, a new basting brush for the cheap hams I get at Aldi, a can of nuts for quick protein, etc. The kids got clothes that they need as well as a few fun things, but this year, I kept the focus on what do we need more than what do we want. My money only stretches so far, and frankly, I only had a bit of money for the "want" part of the Christmas lists.

[cutlassmama]

8. Gave my unemployed son a grocery card this year.

[delightfulstar]

9. Sadly, all too common...

Some families are struggling so much that they can't even help each other, which is even more sad. I'm thankful for some of the non-profits out there who can help people out at this time of the year. My own family has been at the receiving end of that kind of help before, and it made such a huge difference. People have been wrapped up in such rampant materialism for so long, that they may have forgotten what it means to give from the heart, and not from the wallet. Maybe we, as a society, are finally getting back to the fundamentals of the holiday season (and of humanity) - to give what you can (even if it's only your time), and to help those who need it.

[JI7]

10. i think these are good gifts even in better times

[Ramulux]

11. Got a bunch of Ralphs gift cards this year

You cant really justify asking for any recreational items when you have no money for food.