SURRY – Struggling to find a Christmas gift that doesn’t carry with it the inevitable air of capitalism?

What about enough seeds to plant a small field of cacao to produce chocolate, or a wood-conserving stove or 200 acres of tropical rain forest?

There is one catch: Holiday shoppers can’t neatly wrap up these items and offer them to friends or relatives.

The donations instead will go to families in Central America who are no doubt less fortunate by an exponential amount.

Sustainable Harvest International, a Surry-based nonprofit organization that provides agricultural assistance to farmers in Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, is offering several distinctive gifts.

Ranging in price from $25 to $600, these Gifts of Hope offer tools and materials to impoverished farmers intent on improving their quality of life through sustainable agriculture.

“We send a nice card out to the recipient of the gift, so it’s tangible, but more than that, it makes people feel good,” said Sarah Kennedy, director of outreach for SHI. “It’s just a really different way for someone to make a donation.”

This year marks the 10th anniversary of SHI, which was founded by Florence Reed, a former Peace Corps volunteer who sought to help reverse the effects of so-called “slash-and-burn” farming that was destroying rain forests.

The organization began with less than $15,000 in funding and an office Reed created out of a spare bedroom in her parents’ home. Today, SHI’s budget is nearly $1 million and the nonprofit has helped more than 900 Central American families.

From an office in Surry and international branches in the four countries it serves, SHI has overseen the planting of nearly 2 million trees and the conversion of more than 6,000 acres to sustainable use.

SHI has built a foundation of six staffers in Surry and another 30 international extension agents, who work with up to 50 families each.

Kennedy said the Gifts of Hope program started last year as a creative way to raise money, but it was so successful that SHI decided to expand.

“As more and more people become aware of poverty and other global issues, gifts like this are becoming a trend,” Kennedy said. “From what we’ve heard, people have really liked receiving them.”

For $25, you can provide seeds, nursery materials and training to plant 100 trees; $40 dollars gets you an acre of chocolate.

For $50, you can provide materials for a Central American family to build a wood-conserving stove.

For $130, you can provide a bio-gas digester, which converts organic waste into methane gas for cooking, and $600 can save 200 acres of rainforest.

These are just a few options for donations, Kennedy said.

“We have many more options this year, so there is something for every price range,” she said. “We’re really shooting for things that people can relate to.”

To participate in the Gifts of Hope program this Christmas season contact Sustainable Harvest International, 669-8254, or toll free at 1-866-683-6594 or visit: www.sustainableharvest.org.

Eric Russell may be reached at erussell@bangordailynews.net or 664-0524.