Remember this story?
Just before dawn, a young man was walking down a deserted beach. In the distance, he saw a frail old man. As he approached the old man, he saw him picking up a sea star that had been stranded on the beach and throwing it back into the sea. The young man gazed in wonder as the old man again and again picked up a small sea star from the sand on the beach and threw it into the water. Finally, he asked, "Old man, why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"
The old man explained that the stranded sea star would die if left out on the beach in the morning sun.
"But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of sea stars!", exclaimed the young man. "How can you make any difference?"
The old man looked down at the small sea star in his hand and as he threw it to the safety of the sea, he said, "I make a difference to this one".
Animals don't ask for great food nor gifts for Christmas… some just SOME food and some attention, medical care, etc.
With them, very little money can make a long way.
Why not consider helping shelters and
animal rescue societies or activities (or environmental organizations) to make the world a better place for Christmas 
?
"Who even saves a life, saves the world entire" (Passage comes from the Jewish Talmud)
Just a list of shelters and organizations to give you some ideas.
(I am obviously not associated to any in particular, although I have contributed to some and they sent me info to certify how my money was used)
No-Kill Organizations by States
http://www.saveourstrays.com/no-kill.htm
http://rollingdogranch.com/ (a special place for disabled animals in Montana)
http://therapydogrescue.com/faq (Program in Indiana to treat dogs with traumas or problems to later be able to "reinsert" them in the families that could adopt them)
http://www.adoptapet.com/animal-shelters (one of the most known sites I heard of in the USA, from there you can find the nearby shelters and organizations where you can help)
Not to mention that there are sites such as :
www. theanimalrescuesite.com
There, you can click each day and that provides bowls of food for animals in shelters, given by the sponsors.
They also offer in stores all sorts of products. I have bought many products over the years from them, for each item they donate more money than from clicking, of course, and the products are good (well, anything and everything I got was really good) and of all ranges of prices. A good place to find all sorts of gifts for all ages and groups of people while helping animals. (Don't forget to check associated pages such as those linked to saving the rainforest, working on hunger issues in the world, etc.)
http://www.animalshelter.org/shelters/states.asp Animal Shelter directory search by state or zip code.
http://fluffynet.com/no-kill-shelters/ No Kill Shelters in USA (by State) Canada and Scotland
Chicago area animal shelters http://www.care-evanston.org/shelterlist.htm
Those are just examples… if you look up in google, you can find more shelters, in USA, Australia, Switzerland, you name it!
Remember too that you can look up for avian sanctuaries, horses, rabbit and other small and big animals shelters.
There is no better present to ourselves than to bring joy, hope, Life to other living beings.
