GALION — The Community Foundation for Crawford County will again join #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving with a goal to harness the collective power of individuals, communities and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity worldwide.
Tuesday, Nov. 28 is #GivingTuesday. Traditonally, it is the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday are used to kick-off the holiday giving season and inspire people to collaborate in improving their local communities.
“We like to play with this event’s name a bit by calling it #Giving2sday,” said Lisa Workman, the foundation’s president. “We hope with the ‘2’ in the title, donors will remember that their gift will inspire a second one, as our board has set aside $35,000 to distribute to participating funds on a pro-rated basis. So the more your fund raises, the larger piece of that $35,000 pie it will receive!”
Since so much of the success of #Giving2sday revolves around using social media to raise funds, Crawford County residents are encouraged to go to https://tcf4cc.networkforgood.com. From that website, you can easily create your own fundraising page and use the templates provided to email your contacts for donations, or post your request on Facebook.
Participants also are encouraged to send their fundraising requests to old friends and classmates who would have a vested interest in helping Crawford County. Any donations made on that website through Nov. 28 will count towards the event, but checks must be dated Nov. 28 to count.
“Thanks to a $1,500 gift to the Foundation from OneIT, an additional $500 will be added to the top earning fund in one of each of three categories: agency funds, scholarship funds and the school funds,” said Justin McMullen, a foundation Board member, said of a special incentive to this year’s #Giving2sday.
In addition to social media, collection sites for checks and cash will be set up all day at the Foundation’s office at 254 E. Mansfield St., Bucyrus, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cranberry Hills Grill & Pub in New Washington; Kroger in Bucyrus; Geyer’s in Galion and the public library in Crestline.
In 2016, The Community Foundation for Crawford County contributed more than $600,000 in gifts, grants and scholarships in Crawford County. That was also the fifth year of the #GivingTuesday movement, and it raised nearly $168 million worldwide.
