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

There’s Black Friday, although many big retailers seem to have been pushing holiday sales since before Halloween. There’s also Shop Small Saturday and Cyber Monday.

Amid all of those shopping plans is #GivingTuesday, set this year for Nov. 28. The Community Foundation of Jackson County asks that you consider giving to local charities, including perhaps to one of the more than 250 funds we administer. You can find them listed on our website at cfjacksoncounty.org or in our annual gift guide, which should be delivered to your home the week of Thanksgiving.

Do match dollars interest you?

This year, the foundation has match dollars available that allow you to earn $2 in match dollars for every $1 you donate to one of our community funds. Also called unrestricted funds, community funds provide the bulk of grant dollars for the foundation’s fall grant cycle. Last month, our board of directors approved 21 grants totaling more than $125,000 through the competitive fall grant program.

If you instead want to focus your giving to specific agencies or areas of concern, our list of funds should provide a place for you to donate. Want to help Jackson County children? We have a number of funds that do just that. Want to help the arts community in Jackson County? Ditto. United Way, Jackson County Public Library, Conner Antique Print Shop Museum or maybe the Jackson County canine shelter or the Brownstown Pickleball Construction Fund? Of course we do. 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. Many nonprofits are reporting they are struggling economically – again – this year. Circumstances and uncertainty appear to be keeping many checkbooks closed and pocketbooks snapped shut. It’s an understandable reaction but one with consequences for those in need.

The foundation asks that you consider helping turn that trend around through making a gift on #GivingTuesday. The event, after all, can be – and really should be — about much more than one day each Christmas and holiday season. We also ask that you consider pledging to do more next year. Donate your talents, time and treasure. Volunteer for The Arc of Jackson County, Jackson County History Center or the Hornets Nest.

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, making a difference forever.

You can donate through our web page, cfjacksoncounty.org. Click on “Donate Now” and let us know to which fund you are donating. Or you may send a check to the foundation at P.O. Box 1231, Seymour, IN 47274.

Thank you, and on behalf of the foundation staff and our board of directors, we wish you a happy holiday season, a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family as well as a merry Christmas this holiday season.

Dan Davis is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Jackson County. For information about donating opportunities with the foundation, call 812-523-4483 or send an email to [email protected].