Giving Guide 2018
Once again my podcast app and instagram feed is full of giving guides. In honor of #GivingTuesday, I'd like to offer an updated Giving Guide for this holiday season. If you'd like to see last year's selections, click here.
Giving Tuesday was established in 2012 to set aside a day that was all about celebrating the generosity of giving. In a season that can be all about buying and receiving, it's a mental shift to look beyond ourselves and give to an organization that may not directly benefit us or even places where we've volunteered and learned to love their mission.
#GivingTuesdayCLT has a new goal this year to achieve 1,076,837 acts of GOOD — one act for each resident of Mecklenburg County. I love the mission of this movement!
If you are looking for ideas on where to give, here are six of my favorites. Click on the name to be linked to each organizations giving pages.
It's DGNTY TUESDAY!
Help restore dignity in the lives of women within our 410 Bridge communities.
The problems that exist...
130 million girls are out of school right now. 830 women die every day from preventable causes related to childbirth. Of that number, 99% of women and babies who die lives in third world communities. Research indicates that when more income is put directly into the hands of women, child nutrition, health, and education dramatically improves.
A solution you can be part of...
At The 410 Bridge, we have programs currently running that we desperately want more women to have access to, like our Maternal Healthcare Training, Business Start-Up Program, and Child Sponsorship Program.
I have to keep this one on the list and will be running the "Get your Rear in Gear" in March of 2019. The Colon Cancer Coalition has set a goal for 2018 of funding over $1.5 million in screening, awareness, and patient support to reach more people and save more lives. This organization supports the local community with programs to increase screening, help the families of those suffering through treatment, and increase awareness of this silent disease.
A gift to the Carolina Thread Trail connects people to nature.
In addition to expanding trails throughout a 15-county region, your gift supports free public programs and environmental education. Help partners such as Project Scientist, Best Buddies and Studio 345 learn about nature through guided hikes, bike rides along greenways and kayak trips on local rivers.
$200 allows 20 students to experience a nature hike.
$150 allows 10 people to experience a guided bike ride.
$40 allows 1 person to experience a 2-hour paddle.
A gift to nature is a gift that gives for generations. Help save important and rapidly disappearing natural spaces in our region and connect people to the outdoors.
Your Giving Tuesday gift also supports community conservation projects like the Lakewood Farm Share, bringing healthy produce from a local farm to a food desert in West Charlotte.
Catawba Lands thinks every community deserves access to affordable, healthy food. Love this!
If you haven't visited this sanctuary in the midst of busy Charlotte, you need to go see WingHaven.
Maybe you can give money. Maybe you can buy a garden tool or a children's book for our PEEPs outreach programs. Maybe you can volunteer to work in the garden or plant nursery. Maybe you can follow on social media and help spread the word.
WingHaven shares the importance of gardens, plants, birds, nature-based learning, greenspace, wildlife habitat, and the rich history of Wing Haven Garden & Bird Sanctuary and The Elizabeth Lawrence House & Garden.
I've enjoyed the Creative Mornings meetings over the past year and am excited about their endeavors to help kickstart the creative community in Charlotte.
Beginning December 7, Charlotte is Creative, a non-profit associated with Creative Mornings, will give out $250 HUG (Helpful Unfettered Gift) micro-grants to 250 individuals and initiatives across Charlotte to help nudge their creative endeavors forward. And, you get to help do it.
If you love CreativeMornings/Charlotte, Queen City Quiz Show, the HUG Grant program or the #CharlotteIsCreative movement, please consider donating to the $250/250 campaign.
Now that I've told you about these organizations that I believe in, I better follow my own advice and do some giving. Give today for #GivingTuesday and throughout the year to support these programs and many other worthy non-profits in the Charlotte area.
