Giving Tuesday benefits local nonprofits

JACKSON, Tenn. — The biggest day of the year has arrived for nonprofits across West Tennessee.

Giving Tuesday launched on giveback731.com Tuesday morning, encouraging residents to donate money to local nonprofits in their area.

For many of those organizations, the day could make or break their plans for 2021.

“Just sharing how big Giving Tuesday is for all the nonprofits, it is a great way for us to all have been able to come together,” said Melisa Summar, marketing director for YouthTown.

There are more than 60 nonprofits listed on the website, with links to donate.

COVID-19 forced many nonprofits to cancel fundraisers and other events throughout the year, so Giving Tuesday became their de facto fundraiser.

“Any assistance that people can provide us today, so that we can go back out and do what we do and help people any way that we can,” Lynnsey Park, a domestic violence response manager for the Wo/Men’s Resource and Rape Assistance Program, or WRAP, said.

“We’re trying to lift our youths’ spirits up right now. That’s been the biggest effect with COVID,” Summar said.

“Especially during COVID with a lot of parents out of work, we need all the assistance we can get,” Deb Heard, the executive director of Hands Up! Preschool, said.

The needs vary for each organization.

“$7,500 would cover a whole year of tuition for one child, so it would have a huge impact on somebody’s life,” Heard said.

“Building upgrades, more beds,” Summar said.

“We always need things like toiletry items, cleaning items, things like that,” Park said.

In West Tennessee, organizations like Toyota Tennessee kickstarted the giving with a $20,000 donation to the United Way of West Tennessee.

And individual donors have already made an impact.

“We actually have an anonymous donor who is matching up to $2,500,” Heard said.

You can continue to make your donations online to any of these nonprofits and many more from across West Tennessee until midnight.

For more information on participating nonprofits, or to donate to a nonprofit, click here.