Wheelchairs, shelter and cancer medicine are probably not at the top of your Christmas list this holiday season. But the Ames Area Alternative Gift Market has made it possible to give these sorts of gifts in honor of friends or family.

Market shoppers can select a gift from different displays telling the stories of those who benefit. Purchasers then receive holiday cards with their gifts inscribed, to send to the people of whose honor the gifts are given.

Katy Seidel, a representative from First Baptist Church, one of five area churches involved, said the gifts are perfect for those hard-to-shop-for friends.

“Rather than giving them something they’ll probably never use anyway, you can give them something that is really worthwhile,” Seidel said.

Among the available gifts at the market are cancer medicine for victims of Chernobyl, preservation of the rain forests in Brazil, crutches and wheelchairs for disabled children in Bosnia and handmade crafts for third world countries.

“You can have a tree planted in honor of your neighbor,” Seidel said. “It’s really kind of neat.”

Purchases can also be made to support local organizations such as the Story County Habitat for Humanities and the Ames Emergency Shelter.

“It’s set up like a fair with tables showing the different gifts you can purchase,” she said. “We cooperate with the Alternative Gift Market headquarters and they approve every organization we work with.”

Seidel said they can guarantee that 100 percent of your money will go towards where you decide to spend it. “So you can take it off your income tax too,” she added.

Purchases costing from $1 to $400 can be made, while buying a share of a gift is also a possibility.

The Alternative Gift Market was founded in 1980 in California. Markets are now held in 250 churches and schools around the world.

Seidel said the event began at the Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Ames seven years ago. The market has continued to grow, with more churches getting involved each year.

Seidel said the market sold an estimated $12,000 in gifts last year.

Students are invited to stop by the market on their way out of town Saturday. It will be held at the Bethesda Lutheran Church on 1517 Northwestern St., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.