Giving Tuesday kicks off second year in Red Deer

After a successful Giving Tuesday campaign last year, 47 partner agencies are involved this year, including Volunteer Central.

Volunteer Central Executive Director Pam Snowdon says Giving Tuesday fits under the umbrella of ‘Central Alberta Gives’ and is meant to serve as an antidote to events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

“All the retail messages and giving that happens at that time of year, it’s just a little reminder that when we are opening our wallets or when we’re spending time, to think about all the causes and charities in the community that will benefit from giving,” she says.

Snowdon adds that many of the local organizations that take part in the event use the day to fundraise, recruit volunteers or just create awareness about their cause.

“It’s a pretty new movement in central Alberta,” Snowdon admits. “But the more that we get together, do events like this and talk about Giving Tuesday and make a social media campaign with a really broad reach, the more people are aware of the movement of Giving Tuesday.”

Snowdon says she’s very encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by local organizations to take part in Giving Tuesday again this year.

“The fact that everybody was very eager to meet around the table and plan another campaign this year is a really good sign that they thought it was a really good use of their time.”

Dawna Morey is Executive Director of the Lending Cupboard in Red Deer, one of the 47 partner agencies involved in Giving Tuesday and Central Alberta Gives. She says this is actually the third year they are recognizing the event.

“The impact that it really has is just raising the awareness of our organization and not just the need for financial support,” Morey says, noting Lending Cupboard provided medical equipment to over 9700 people last year. “The community has been really good in supporting us in terms of their donations, especially during the giving season and we certainly look forward to that to continuing, but it also raises the awareness of how people give in kind of their time and give in time of their services sometimes.”

Judy Scott, Executive Director for Family Services of Central Alberta, says receiving money is great but what they need is volunteers.

“We have different programs and events that we do that we really need support with of people and their time, working with our children, working with our seniors and helping us having some fun events,” she explained. “We’re an organization that services everybody, so we do everything from babies all the way to seniors, we have an adult day support program that we could use some volunteers in to come and help play cards or read to seniors, as well as we have seniors in their homes that are looking for companions to come have a cup of tea and again just have a conversation.”

For more information on Central Alberta Gives and Giving Tuesday, visit GivingTuesday.ca

by Sheldon Spackman

Giving Tuesday kicks off second year in Red Deer

What's Trending