Ten local nonprofit organizations have joined together to participate in Giving Tuesday Saline.
On Tuesday, these nonprofits will combine efforts to seek “one gift” for “one county” for “one purpose … serving all.”
Matt Brumley, director of the Saline Memorial Health Foundation, which is one of the participating nonprofits, said Giving Tuesday is a “global initiative.”
“In the United States alone, there are thousands of nonprofits marketing to the public,” he said.
“The mission of Giving Tuesday is to try to raise awareness and money for these nonprofits.
“Here locally, we want to raise awareness about the resources that are available in Saline County, and we want to raise money for these 10 organizations that offer these resources, … especially since we all carry basically the same message. By working together, we are helping the same people that we all serve.”
Brumley said the donations received on Tuesday will be split evenly among the 10 participating organizations; for example, if $100 is raised, each organization will receive $10.
“There are so many good causes in this awesome community,” Brumley said. “Many of those causes are represented by these 10 organizations.
“People want to give, but sometimes they are bombarded by so many causes that they don’t give at all. By making one donation, people can help many of these causes.
“Instead of one person, one nonprofit, carrying a heavy load, by working together, we can make it lighter if we can all lift a little.”
People can make donations through social media such as Twitter (Twitter@GivingTueSaline) and Facebook (Facebook.com/
givingtuesdaysaline), or they can come by the Best Buy parking lot in Benton from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and make a donation in person. Free hot dogs will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 5-6 p.m. Santa Claus will be available, as well as a disc jockey and other activities. Coffee will be for sale, as will a special Hallmark Christmas ornament.
Many businesses throughout Saline County will also participate and will have coin canisters set up to receive donations.
For more information, contact Krystal at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Saline County at krystal@scbgclub.com or (501) 315-8100.
Many of the participating organizations have a specific project that will benefit from the donations received from this fundraising campaign. Other organizations will use the money for general operating expenses.
Following is a brief look at the organizations and what they have done, or hope to do, with the money raised on Giving Tuesday Saline:
• The Boys and Girls Clubs of Bryant
“Giving Tuesday allows us to continue to fulfill our mission and impact the lives of the more than 600 youth that we serve daily,” said Karissa Stephens, resource development coordinator. “Specifically, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bryant have been able to utilize the Giving Tuesday funds to help provide Christmas presents for children who are less fortunate than others, while helping us ensure that the joy of Christmas is alive in every child.”
• The Boys and Girls Clubs of Saline County
Krystal Askew, program director for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Saline County, said the money raised this year will be used to help fund the many programs the organization offers to kids.
“We recently conducted a penny drive at the club,”
she said. “I explained what Giving Tuesday means and how the nine other organizations get money from it just like we do. I told them it is important for us to help them as well.
“We did a boy vs. girl contest just to make it fun,” Askew said. “And of course, the winners were to receive a popcorn party, but everyone got the popcorn party, too.
“We raised $66.92,” she said. “So we want to donate this sack of pennies to the other nonprofits in the county.”
Askew said this one activity “shows that even young kids can learn what it is like to be a part of the community.”
• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for the 22nd Judicial District of Saline County
Jennifer Harklau, executive director, said the funds raised from this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign will be used to “recruit and support community volunteers to work as advocates for our kids.”
“We now have 36 trained volunteers who work as advocates,” she said. “We doubled the number of advocates from 2014 to 2015.”
• The Christian Community Care Clinic
“We have nothing specific in mind for the donations,” said Gwen Simpson, executive director. “The money most likely will be used for pharmaceuticals and diabetic supplies that we have in our pharmacy.”
• Civitan Services
“Giving Tuesday Saline comes at a good time of the year,” said Leigha Jones, community development director.
“People are doing their year-end giving,” she said.
“We are louder and stronger together,” she said of the Giving Tuesday Saline coalition. “It’s easier for the donor and for us to do it this way. It’s more effective.”
Jones said the money Civitan Services receives from the campaign will be used to buy Christmas presents for the kids in Civitan’s preschool program.
• Habitat for Humanity of Saline County
Megan Eoff, marketing and resource development coordinator, said Habitat for Humanity will use its share of the donations “to get land ready to build our last few homes in our Partnership Village (at Market and Woodlawn streets).”
“We are running out of space in Partnership Village,” she said. “We have the land across from it, and that is where we will build the rest of the houses. Once those are built, we will have to look for land somewhere else.”
Eoff said that when completed, Habitat’s Partnership Village will have 60 homes in it.
“We already have five
families’ applications approved for next year, and we have a waiting list of more,” she said. “We have really grown quickly.”
• Saline County Safe Haven Inc.
“Funds received through the Giving Tuesday Saline campaign were used to purchase new IDs, birth certificates and other essentials for victims of domestic violence regaining their lives in Saline County,” said Lauren Lambert, director of Safe Haven. She indicated the money raised this year will be used in the same manner.
• The Saline Memorial Health Foundation
“Last year, we provided blankets for patients who were in the hospital on Christmas Day,” said Megan Caldwell, community services coordinator. “We plan to do the same thing this year.”
Caldwell said blue blankets imprinted with the foundation’s mission statement were given to approximately 100 patients last year.
• The CALL
“The Giving Tuesday Saline donations [last year] allowed The CALL in Saline and Perry counties to purchase an educational video series to equip and support our foster and adoptive families, and also to support our children in foster care,” said Julia DesCarpentrie, county coordinator. “The donations given this year will help furnish a visitation room for families and their children in foster care.”
• The Vine and the Branches
“We will use some of it to help [disaster] victims with [gasoline] and the other items needed for the family,” said Tamra Gore, director. “We will also help those with hunger and homeless issues.”
Gore said the organization helped approximately 6,800 people last year through its services, including chaplaincy and disaster relief.