Today is the day non-profit organizations hope for public generosity so they can continue their missions.
If you want to give, there's no shortage of charities and non-profits to choose from, and what follows is a small sampling. Among those locally: Capital Roots, where Amy Klein is Chief Executive Officer.
"On Giving Tuesday, we today opened our brand new market, the Good Food Market, which is sponsored by CDPHP. And it's a food market focused exclusively on fresh food and New York state products. So the purpose of the market is to give easy access to top quality food for members of our community and provide a discounted price for anyone who needs it. And also to support our local agricultural community and our local makers," said Klein.
The Good Food Market is located at 598 River Street in Troy. Capital Roots has been a WAMC underwriter.
Abby Ingraham is board chair for Girls On The Run, Capital Region, a team-building program she says is designed to inspire girls to build their confidence, kindness and positive decision making skills.
"We utilize dynamic lessons that instill valuable life skills, including the important connection between physical and emotional health," Ingraham said. "The Girls on the Run Capital Region Chapter is actually celebrating our 10 years in 2024. So this Giving Tuesday we are looking to raise, we want to be able to fund 10 full teams in honor of our 10 years, so that would be $25,000."
Ingraham says to date the organization is nearly halfway toward its goal, having raised $11,415.
Denise Romeo is executive director of the Alliance 180 program. Its mission is to prevent suicide and is directed toward veterans, first responders and frontline health care workers.
“And we do that through an equine experience. That is a program that is working neurologically to be able to flip that emotional switch for folks that are have experienced trauma, whether they're, in war, or EMT, or anybody that has experienced that trauma,” said Romeo who notes the program was developed and written by an equine specialist who is also a first responder. It's based on "trust through the universal language of the horse," enabling people to emerge from feelings of despair. Romeo says money raised helps pay for travel expenses, meals and putting additional individuals through the program.
Elizabeth Dubben is co-director of Collar Works in Troy, a nonprofit arts organization supporting emerging and underrepresented artists making challenging and culturally relevant work.
"And that is a year-long effort. And so for us, we have a goal of raising $15,000 by the end of 2023, with our end of year appeal, and there's many ways to support us through that by giving online through social media. And also just reaching out to us directly through our website, which is www.collarworks.org. Giving Tuesday is always a good time of year to remind people that it's the end of year giving season for nonprofit organizations," Dubben said.
In April, the National Council of Nonprofits conducted a nationwide survey that found seven out of 10 nonprofits anticipated charitable giving to decrease or remain flat this year.
