In the season of spending and eating, a little bit of giving back is a good way to balance the cosmic books, said organizers of #CHAgives, an effort that draws attention and resources to the work of nonprofits on Giving Tuesday.
“It’s a great day to gather the community and be connected in a movement with the community,” said Bethany Ramsey, a member of the #CHAgives committee and communications coordinator for the Ronald McDonald House.
Giving Tuesday is an international effort that began in 2012. The local campaign, which launched in 2015, has an aggressive $1 million fundraising goal this year, but the growth of the effort over the last few years made organizers feel good about their chances, Ramsey said.
“As we’ve been able to reach more people and make them aware of what Giving Tuesday is all about, we said, ‘Let’s go for it,'” Ramsey said.
Options for donating money and time are online at chagives.org, where organizers have created a list of 250 participating nonprofits. About 100 restaurants and businesses also listed on the website will donate a portion of Tuesday’s proceeds to the effort.