Reading the fine print can be a feel-good experience. Holiday greeting cards that benefit charities usually have a fine-print account of the group’s good works, so you can share the Christmas spirit with cards that do good and look good at the same time.
Since UNICEF introduced the first fund-raising greeting cards in 1949, charities, hospitals and not-for-profit interest groups have come to rely on card sales to help fund their operations. Here are a few. Prices do not include imprinting, shipping and handling.
American Heart Association of Metropolitan Chicago’s card, designed by Travis Miller, 12, of Chicago, who has a congenital heart defect, features a snowman and the message, “Put Your Heart in the Season.” A box of 25 cards is $25. Call 312-346-4675.
Alzheimer’s Association offers three watercolor designs created by people afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and 13 other traditional Christmas designs. A box of 25 is $18. Call 708-933-2413.
Anti-Cruelty Society recycled photos from its 1913 annual report for its 1993 cards. One features an infant with a pug-nosed dog; the other, a boy with a cat. A box of 25 is $15. Call 312-644-8338, ext. 301.
Blue Cap is raising money for a new facility in Blue Island to provide training and housing for people with developmental disabilities. One includes a recipe for gingerbread cookies; the other has a gold sticker star affixed by a participant of its Work Activity Center. Price is $10 for 20 cards. Call 708-389-6578.
Center of Enriched Living, which provides educational, recreational and social programs for mentally retarded people, offers cards sealed with its emblem in gold and a ribboned bookmark made by a resident of the Deerfield-based community. Cost is $2 a card. Call 708-948-7001.
Chicago Fundraising Committee to Benefit Pediatric AIDS has a card created by Cliff Carlson, 7, an AIDS victim who died in 1991. Cost is $25 for 20. Call 708-835-2166.
Children’s Memorial Hospital benefits from seven cards designed by children who have been patients at the pediatric hospital. Cards are $16.50 for 20. Call 312-472-1512.
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has 11 traditional styles, starting at $19.25 for a package of 25. Call 312-236-4491.
Gastro-Intestinal Research Foundation volunteers will seal, stamp and address your cards at no charge. Each of three choices has a tissue insert explaining its mission. Cards are $43.75 for 25. Call 312-332-1371.
Greater Chicago Food Depository, which distributes food to 550 pantries, shelters and soup kitchens, sold out its first 20,000 cards, but a new supply is available. The design-a bird against the city’s skyline-was drawn by a volunteer at the Ark, a North Side community center. Cost is $15 for 10. Call 312-247-3663.
Hadley School for the Blind’s card sends greetings in Braille and conventional print. The Winnetka-based school’s cards are $18 for 25. Call 708-446-8111.
Lamb’s Farm, a community in Libertyville for mentally retarded children and adults, produces its own cards. Residents create the designs and silk screen them. The cards, blank inside, are $7.50 for 10. Call 708-362-4636.
Lawrence Hall Youth Services offers seven designs by abused, neglected, handicapped or homeless children served by the North Side residential community. The cards, printed in-house, are $15 for 25. Call 312-769-3500.
Leukemia Research Foundation Inc. offers 14 traditional cards priced from $23.25 for 25. Call 708-480-1177.
Lupus Foundation, devoted to education and research into lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that attacks the immune system, offers 13 traditional cards from $19.25 for 25. Call 312-445-7071.
National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington D.C.-based group, sells 10 traditional cards at $20 for 25, with return address stickers and holiday seals. Call 1-800-537-3723.
Open Hand Chicago, which delivers meals to AIDS sufferers, recruited local artists Phyllis Bramson, Paul Sierra, Riva Lehrer and Frank Morealle to design its cards. An assortment of 12 is $16. Call 312-665-1000.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has five styles, with raccoons, doves, foxes and two menagerie scenarios at $4.50 for 12. Call 301-770-8978.
Pet Rescue Inc., a no-kill animal shelter in Bloomingdale, offers for a donation 10 cards with original art of dogs, including two new designs by area artists Sandra Zimnick and Estelle Fedelle; minimum donation for 12 is $3 to cover postage. Call 708-893-0300.
Ronald McDonald House, which provides free housing for families visiting hospitalized children, has four cards for $25 for a box of 25. Call 1-800-976-6253.
Shanti Foundation for Peace, an all-volunteer group that works with grass-roots programs in foreign countries, includes Hanukkah and Kwanzaa holiday messages and traditional Christmas designs, with quotations from peace advocates including Laotzu, Mahatma Gandhi and John Lennon. Cost is $9 for eight. Call 708-869-2224.
SIDS Alliance of Illinois Inc., which researches Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, markets five cards, starting at $15 for 20. Call 312-987-1177 or 1-800-432-7437.
Starlight Foundation, which grants wishes for hospitalized children, offers five designs. Ten sell for $10. Call 708-256-5811.
UNICEF publishes a catalog listing more than 40 designs crafted by children who have benefitted from United Nations program. Cards are priced from $7.50 for 10. Call 1-312-670-2379 or 1-800-553-1200.
United Charities sells two cards, one a Christmas tree silhouette, the other, doves in flight; $15 for 25. Call 312-986-4174.
The Chicago Chapter of the Women’s Architectural League card features a panel designed by partners Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Cards, blank or with a message, are $7 for 10. Call 708-386-7379.
