Day of Giving goes on
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 2, 2012 1:50 AM
Giving Tuesday may be over, but the season of giving isn't, and United Way of Wayne County officials are hopeful that people will continue to help meet the needs of several local community organizations.
Giving Tuesday was a nationwide event started last year by the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Local United Way staff came up with the idea of participating after seeing some of the projects registered on the national site.
It was decided to partner with the national effort, GivingTuesday.org, to encourage residents to give back to their communities after spending the weekend after Thanksgiving shopping.
"They invited other nonprofits to join in for the day of giving," said Catherine LeChot, United Way of Wayne County community engagement manager. "They tried to promote it mainly through social media. They ended up getting national attention. There were series on CBS and NBC and you (News-Argus) ran like four stories on it. We gave gotten some response from it and actually a lot more inquires like, 'Is this the only day? We just read about it today.'"
The items needed will benefit the Partnership for Children, WAGES, WATCH, Communities in Schools, Boys and Girls Clubs of Wayne County, Literacy Connections, Lending Library and Book Collection, and Salvation Army.
Items donated Tuesday included folders, notebook paper, Kleenex, gloves, some hard candy, binders and coats.
"We are happy with the response," Ms. LeChot said. "Of course we would have loved to have had my whole office filled with everything. We are just hoping to continue through the holiday season.
"So we are extending it through the holiday and we still need all of those items. It is not like we got a ream of paper and we are not taking any more. As people call as they have read like online at the News-Argus or our Facebook page or your Facebook page, we had people donate about 30 binders. One lady called about donating some coats so we have gotten some response from the community and we really appreciate that. We don't want to say, 'Oh, Tuesday is over. We aren't accepting your contributions any more.'"
While specific items are being sought, cash donations are welcomed as well, she said.
"We are looking for these items to help our community partners," Ms. LeChot said. "People may say, 'I don't have time to go to the store. Here is $10. Use it for any of those needs.' Of course we would be willing to do that. Some people might say, 'I might want to volunteer.' So there is a list of volunteer opportunities on volunteerwayne.org. They can do that as well.
"The whole concept of Giving Tuesday is that you are going out shopping for three days after Thanksgiving and just pick up something else while you are out. I know people are still going to be out shopping until Christmas."
The Giving Tuesday logo will remain on the United Way website, unitedwayne.org, and people can still up click on it for a list of all of the needed items.
Ms. LeChot also has re-posted the information on the United Way Facebook page, too.
For more information call 919-735-3591. People can also call that number if they want United Way to pick up a donation or if they need directions to the office.