NORTH TEXAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – North Texas Giving Day kicked off Thursday morning and this year the event has a more critical meaning to the thousands of nonprofits it helps than in years past.
Hundreds of organizations have said they’re struggling to keep up with increasingly high demand to help residents who are struggling due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The combination of less people donating financially and COVID-19 restrictions has caused a strain on operations.
Dave Scullen CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas said this year has been challenging.
“We’re in a new world. We’ve had to pivot. One thing I know, there’s millions of people here who love their community. The North Texas Giving Day platform allows you to step in and help those who you want to help and you choose. A lot of other events have been disrupted…Giving Day has not been disrupted and it’s a real opportunity,” he said.
Scullen urges anyone who is able to take a few minutes to either donate money or time for a good cause.
“In this period that we all have challenges. We can all agree on one thing and, if given the opportunity, we want to help someone else. There’s a lot of things we can’t do because of COVID but one thing we can do on Giving Day is step up and help somebody else,” he said.
The event got off a great start, raising more than $18 million within hours of opening up the website for donations to the 3300 hundred organizations that are participating this year.
“Already donors have donated to 2,866 of those 3,366 of the organizations. On top of that, in addition to giving $18 million so far, people pledged 200,000 hours of service to various organizations. It’s a stunning start. We’re just thrilled,” said Scullen.
Last year, the event raised $50 million dollars through 102,000 unique donors benefiting three thousand local non profits.
Click here to donate or to sign up to volunteer for the organization of your choice.
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