Yesterday was Giving Tuesday, a global campaign that encourages donations to the non-profit of your choice during the holidays. We checked in with a few local charities to see how much money was raised.
In Sparks, bags and boxes of food line the shelves at Sparks Christian Fellowship; the fresh and non-perishables feed about one hundred people every week at the local church. SCF does it with the help of the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
Yesterday the Food Bank got a boost during Giving Tuesday.
"A little over $18,500 - that was matched. So, if you take three meals for every dollar, that's over 111-thousand meals for our community" says Jocelyn Lantrip, Director of Marketing and Communications at Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
Giving Tuesday donations for other local charities were more modest, but the effect the campaign has, is very impactful. "Raising awareness is so important because not only does that help build our fundraising over time, but it's also helping us reach potential new donors,” says Sandy Isham with Volunteers of America of Northern Nevada (VOA).
VOA raised about $1,000 yesterday for programs at their shelter for the homeless in downtown Reno.
The numbers were about the same for Northern Nevada HOPES. The community health center received most of its $1,000 in donations via the internet. Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada didn't bring in big numbers yesterday, but agree that the awareness raised during Giving Tuesday is a useful tool.
For Nevada Humane Society, Giving Tuesday was pretty successful. “We were blessed. We did raise $4,000 in online donations alone, that doesn't include all the checks that came in, the people that stopped by, we are still tallying those numbers," said Kimberly Wade with Nevada Humane Society.
Another local, no-kill pet shelter, the SPCA of Northern Nevada reported about $3,000 in charitable giving yesterday.
All non-profits tell us they really need donations like this, year-round.
To learn more, click on links below:
https://www.voa-ncnn.org/northern-nevada
