Central Oregon celebrates ‘Giving Tuesday’

There’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, but you might not be familiar with Giving Tuesday.

Across the country, Tuesday was a special day for nonprofit organizations, including Bend hospice Partners in Care.

“We’re celebrating right now by having an open house for our corporate and individual donors to come by to say hello and see the hospice house facility and to present gifts to the organization,” said Senior Development Officer Marlene Carlson.

One of those donors is Brad Baird, the owner of Baird Funeral Homes.

“We absolutely 100 percent support and appreciate what they’re doing,” Baird said. “We think that they’re angels, and we’re not alone in that.”

Carlson said their main focus is caring for people, and every donation has the potential to make a difference.

“It’s important, because giving back helps us to express our care and concern for programs and organizations that provide such useful services in our community,” Carlson said.

Baird said he donates to Partners in Care because he’s had a relationship with the hospice that’s lasted more than a decade.

“It fills the heart, because we know that the money is being well-spent to cover expenses here that I’m sure are enormous that we don’t even see,” Baird said.

For information on nonprofit organizations you can donate to, visit http://centraloregoncharities.org/.