Central Oregonians show generosity on Giving Tuesday
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have passed, and Tuesday was all about giving back. Central Oregonians showed their generosity on the fourth annual Giving Tuesday, a growing effort to shine a holiday spotlight on worthy causes.
Originating in 2012, Giving Tuesday is a global movement that lends balance to the frenzy of shopping fueled by Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. On Tuesday, High Desert families, companies and organizations came together to give to others after some of the busiest shopping days of the year.
“What a great opportunity for people to take some time on the first day of December to give,” said Molly Tennant of the Tower Theatre Foundation.
Kicking off the winter months, the Touchmark at Mt. Bachelor Foundation wanted to spread the warmth this holiday season.
Anne Wilson, the life enrichment director of Touchmark, explained, “We’ve just been gathering warm clothes for the past month, and I believe we counted up over 200 items.”
The much-needed winter items, including gloves, hats and blankets, were then delivered to the Bethlehem Inn hiomeless shelter.
Other organizations, including the Tower Theatre Foundation, aimed to raise money for their causes.
“To give the gift of art, we all know how important it is in our life and makes us all feel good,” Tennant said.
The foundation strived to raise $2,500 to bring 100 kids to the theater and to enhance their cultural experiences, social connections and artistic expressions of the next generation of theatergoers.
While some organizations took the day to raise funds, others chose to take the day to celebrate the good deeds they’ve been doing in the community all year round.
“One of the things that I think is really unique is that, instead of just giving dollars is really giving time and opening the doors for people to volunteer their time and expertise and gifts to another organization,” said Dan Stevens vice president of PacificSource.
PacificSource spent the year helping renovate the company’s Charity of Choice, the Partners In Care Hospice House facilities in Bend. The company also constructed a new pet park, did landscaping and painted the counseling room with a mural.
As if that wasn’t enough, PacificSource helped sponsor Partners In Care’s Camp Courage program.
To recognize their efforts, Partners In Care honored PacificSource on Tuesday with the 2015 Corporate Philanthropy Award.
“What they did for us in the past year is just extraordinary,” said Partners In Care CEO Eric Alexander. “I would like to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you.”
All of the participants we spoke to agreed that taking part in Giving Tuesday made them feel great inside.
“It really feels good to be able to give back to the community, and it just makes everybody feel a little warmer,” Wilson said
Since its launch, Giving Tuesday has raised millions of dollars for tens of thousands of organizations.
For more information on Giving Tuesday, visit: http://www.givingtuesday.org/
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