Inside the envelope I found a card - as I expected - but this card was a little different to the run-of-the-mill snow and jolly Santa Claus cards I'm experienced at finding. Firstly, it had a picture of an Indian woman with a mile long smile covering her wrinkled face as she proudly displayed a bed of healthy vegetables. Beneath the image were the words "Gifts of Life".

Intrigued, I further explored the card finding that Ben had purchased a "really useful" gift for me. The card explained that Ben had donated enough money on my behalf to cover the cost of classes for one person in organic vegetable gardening.

TEAR Australia's Arguably, The World's Most Useful Gift Catalogue has been created to help Australian's consider the needs of others rather than buying another useless present that gets stashed in your drawer never to see the light of day again.

For $50 you could buy a goat for a family desperately in need of milk. $5 will allow a person some eye care and $2000 will buy a community a much needed school building.

The great thing about this concept is that I can still consider those I appreciate by donating on their behalf but it means they won't be politely thanking me for a gift they have no need for.