Help needed! Food hamper and Christmas presents for Muslim families

[SunnyUpNorth]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, I would be grateful for any help with this project I am doing....

I am involved in a charity that helps Syrian refugees, sends aid etc.

There have been some refugee families homed in our home town that the charity also helps. The lady who runs the charity has a very good relationship with these families and has become friends with them.

We have had donations to buy the children Christmas presents. I know Christmas is a Christian event but we have checked with the parents who are fine with this. I have been tasked with buying the gifts. I have young children so it's been easy buying for the little ones but there are a few girls ages between 10-14 that I am struggling with. They are quite conservative and also quite young for their age so I really don't know what to get them. I can fall back on things like craft kits, maybe some accessories for their rooms etc but wondered if anyone has any inspirational ideas?!

We also thought about putting together a nice food hamper for each family but I am worried about putting in things they don't eat for religious reasons or that aren't halal.

Can anyone offer advice on things I definitely shouldn't include and things which should be fine? I was thinking along the lines of nice choc, jams, cookies etc.

Sorry for my ignorance and thanks for any help!

Here are a set of rules that'll help you 1) vegetarian/kosher gelatin is usually but not always fine 2) anything from Muslim convenience stores is fine as well 3) should not contain locally produced non halal meat or meat products (milk, eggs is fine), especially pork
In case you don't find then or are too confused, remember that dried fruits, raisins, fruits in general, etc can also help

No e120(carmine) either because it's made from insects. M&M's are haram to eat for this reason.
Some emulsifiers can't be eaten either because the fat(acids) used in them can be sourced from animals, unless it specifically states that it's completly made from plantmatter. Example; e471.

For all of the above reasons I would steer away from sweets...it's very tricky unless you can get to a Muslim owned shop with staff to advise.

Craft kits, drawing and art materials, penci cases, books of drawing paper, room accessories as you say...such as a pretty battery operated lamp, cushion, little bears and dolls.

Stick to vegetarian foods - you can't go too far wrong there. You can get a lot of halal sweeties from the supermarkets too these days - mostly the chewy ones are the non veggie ones but some makes like haribo have halal ones - our local stores sells these.

Crafty things are a good idea, maybe hair bands/clips or snazzy socks and gloves?

Thanks so much, that's really helpful. I take it no cheap sausages or spam?! ;)

Thanks fekko, so far I have got them each some cosy pjs, and some craft bits. They all have beautiful long hair so for the older ones I was planning to get some nice toiletries....shampoo and conditioner, a fancy shower gel, some hair bits etc too.

I'll check out the giant Tesco so see if they have a halal aisle. Thanks.