#GivingTuesday backs community

0

The holiday season brings shopping, Thanksgiving, shopping, Christmas and yet more shopping.

There’s Black Friday. Shop Small Saturday. And Cyber Monday.

Amid all those shopping plans, the Community Foundation of Jackson County asks that you consider giving to local charities – including, perhaps, the 210 funds we administer — on #GivingTuesday Dec. 3.

Want to help the Boys & Girls Club? We have a fund for that. Girls Inc? We have a fund for that. The United Way, Jackson County Public Library or maybe the Conner Antique Print Shop & Museum? We have funds for those, too. And others.

#GivingTuesday is an effort to raise awareness of the needs of charitable programs at home and around the world during a time when so many seem more focused on spending for wishes and wants rather than the needs of others.

The event, however, can be — and really should be — about much more than one day each Christmas and holiday season. We ask that you consider pledging to do more next year. Perhaps give a certain amount every month to a local nonprofit such as Community Diner or pledge to volunteer every month with an organization such as Mental Health America or Big Brothers-Big Sisters.

We hope #GivingTuesday spurs you to help others through bigger, better and smarter charitable giving during this upcoming holiday season and throughout 2020. You could make a donation in a loved one’s name rather than buying them yet another tie, sweater or toaster.

Or you could start a new fund at the foundation in memory of a loved one, perhaps one that benefits a particular nonprofit or church or provides general granting for community needs.

We also ask that you consider making gifts to the foundation’s unrestricted funds. The earnings from those help finance our Fall Grant cycle, when charitable organizations across our community apply for grants to help with important programming needs that touch the lives of people of all ages in all corners of the county. Just last month, the Foundation awarded 18 Fall Grants totaling more than $54,000.

I’d be happy to speak with you about donating to one of the funds or perhaps starting your own. Either way, your gifts to endowed funds can benefit others in perpetuity, a gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving to help make a difference.

We also encourage you to keep an eye out for the Foundation’s annual Holiday Gift Guide. It includes a list of all of the Foundation’s funds and offers information about how to give. Information about #GivingTuesday and other gifting opportunities may be found on our website and our Facebook page. You can donate through our web page, www.cfjacksoncounty.org. Click on “Donate Now” and let us know to which fund you’re donating.

Thank you, and on behalf of the foundation staff and our Board of Directors, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season.

Dan Davis is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County. The foundation administers more than 150 funds with assets of more than $12 million. For information about how you can make a donation to any of the funds administered by the Foundation or how you might start a new fund, call 812-523-4483 or send an email to Davis at [email protected].

No posts to display