SURRY, ME - DECEMBER 1, 2010 - For $25, or the price of two movie tickets and some popcorn, you could plant a forest and feed a family this holiday season.

For $50, or the price of that new sweater you've been eyeing, you could help a family build a wood conserving stove, which saves thousands of trees and greatly improves families' health.

For $100, or the price of dinner for two, you could fund an entire village school program in Central America.

This holiday season, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI), a Maine based non-profit that teaches sustainable agriculture techniques to farming families in Central America, is offering some gift ideas that will go a long way towards helping people and the planet: Gift of Hope. They are donations that range anywhere from $25 to $500, and they support projects that give struggling families in the developing countries of Honduras, Belize, Panama and Nicaragua the hope for a better quality of life. A $25 gift will provide the training, tools and support to plant a forest and feed a family. When trees are planted together with diverse crops such as coffee, cocoa, bananas, vanilla and ginger in an integrated system, they will provide food and income while protecting the environment.

Other Gifts of Hope include:

• A $75 gift that will provide women with the start up funding, training and support necessary to start their own business.
• A $300 gift that will provide a family with the training and capital to start a rural bank, which community members match and manage.  Families can then start small businesses and invest in their future.
• A $500 gift, which will support a family's work with SHI for one year.

When you send a gift, you can make a donation in the name of a friend or family member.  A unique, hand written note card will be sent to your loved one and your financial support will help SHI's 2,000+ participants address the issues of poverty and deforestation.

And if you make a gift purchase of $100 or more, you will receive a free, organic cotton reusable totebag, while supplies last.

To learn more about SHI, go to http://www.sustainableharvest.org
To learn more about SHI's Gifts of Hope, go to http://www.sustainableharvest.org/giftofhope

For further media information, contact:   
Renée Johnson, Communications Coordinator
Office: (207) 669-8254
Direct: (207) 323-6313
Email: renee [at] sustainableharvest.org

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About Sustainable Harvest International: Founded in 1997 by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Florence Reed, SHI has planted more than 2.8 million trees and converted thousands of acres to sustainable uses; thereby saving tens of thousands of acres of tropical forest from slash-and-burn destruction.  SHI has worked with more than 2,100 families in 155 communities throughout Honduras, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua implementing alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, the leading cause of tropical forest destruction in the region.