Northeast Community Foundation Goes Big On Giving Tuesday
Yesterday Alpena celebrated Giving Tuesday, the national movement to give back, on the Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. During a season of wish lists and material items, Giving Tuesday is meant to give people the opportunity to be selfless. Here in Alpena, a group organized to raise money for a ton of different local groups.
The Northeast Community Foundation acted as the middleman yesterday for more than thirty charitable organizations across northeast Michigan. And every penny donated will go straight to the donor’s selected charity, staying right here in northeast Michigan.
Christine Hitch of Alpena’s Community Foundation says her favorite part about the movement is seeing all the local non–profits working together toward a common goal.
“The best thing about this is seeing how all the non–profits involved really have an opportunity to mobilize their own supporters and get the people who care about their organizations to really get behind them and support the organization on this day to either help them with a particular project or just their general mission,” Hitch said.
Some of the non–profits involved in the Community Foundation’s effort include Girls on the Run, Besser Museum, Mid–Michigan Medical Center and Women’s Giving Circle, just to name a few. With all the hype surrounding Giving Tuesday, some of these organizations have chosen to go above and beyond to keep the donations coming in, such as the Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Superintendent Jeff Gray has promised that if the National Marine Sanctuary reaches their donation goal, he will jump in the river. In his words, “we’re trying to create a little excitement around Giving Tuesday so if we receive 50 donations, or raise 7,500 dollars, on Thursday afternoon I’ll put a turkey suit on, take my paddle board out, and jump in the middle of the Thunder Bay River. Just to kind of encourage people, and to give a little reason to give, and help our mission here at the Sanctuary.”
You don’t have to jump in a river, but any small amount donated to the northeast Michigan Community Foundation is appreciated.
