GivingTuesday is a day to give back to the greater good. We featured this movement a year ago to spread the word about 4 nonprofits making a difference in their community, and we want to tell you about them again while adding an additional cause. Three animal organizations, a way to give support to restaurant workers, and improvements for a historical cemetery.
GivingTuesday simply put is a day to encourage people to do good. GivingTuesday is a movement that began in 2012 where an idea formed of giving back to your community in mass on the 1st Tuesday after Thanksgiving every year. It started small but has now expanded all over the United States, and “to date, GivingTuesday activities have been tracked in nearly every country and territory, and over 60 of these countries are home to national GivingTuesday movements of their own.” Source: GivingTuesday.org
There are MANY ways you can give back – kind words, paying for someone’s coffee, volunteering, and donating money to an organization.
Volunteer
Use your voice to advocate in the community
Give kind words and gestures
Donate food and items to your local charitable organization
Give your talent
Give your money to a charity, even $5.00 makes a big difference.
Get involved with your community
Help a neighbor
We are featuring 5 nonprofits we are familiar with and/or volunteer with today. They can certainly use your talents or your money to support their good works for animals or people.
Our family has volunteered and supported the Furkids Animal Shelter for over 11 years through volunteer service, donating goods and money, organizing events. They have rescued and placed thousands of cats and dogs in the time we’ve known them and many more before we found them. It is a wonderful organization and they put your talents and money to every possible use.
Furkids is the largest cage-free, no-kill shelter in the Southeast for rescued cats and Sadie’s Place, a no-kill shelter for dogs. Furkids also operates one of the only facilities in the Southeast dedicated to the care of FIV positive cats. The Furkids mission is to rescue homeless animals, provide them with the best medical care and nurturing environment while working to find them a forever home. Furkids heals the whole animal, physically and emotionally, restoring its health and its spirit. Source: Furkids.org
Click here to donate to Furkids.
We featured Second Life Atlanta in our “Thrift Stores: Treasure Hunting for Fun and Social Causes” post. We’ve known the owners, Tanya and Toby Tobias, for years. They are excellent human beings to know and they’ve dedicated their lives to helping animals. They had an awesome idea one day to open 2 thrift stores in the Atlanta area with the profits primarily supporting animal rescue organizations. They’ve donated over $1 million+ to nonprofits saving and rescuing cats and dogs. My family regularly donates items to them and has for years. We’ve bought furniture, books, dishes, pet toys, and more. Their stores are unique since their mix of vintage and new wares plus their large book section make them an awesome thrifting experience. They are also known for their fun window displays.
Second Life Atlanta’s Mission:
To provide cash donations to animal rescue organizations with the purpose of reducing pet overpopulation through adoption, spay/neuter programs and education/awareness.
“We are not a rescue group. Instead, our mission is to help many of the wonderful groups doing great things to save lives and to help spay/neuter programs prevent unwanted dogs and cats from being born. When we opened, we decided not to open a rescue that would take a piece of the limited funding…but instead, to spread it around.” Source: Second Life Atlanta
Click here to donate to Second Life Atlanta.
One of the super volunteers – and I mean SUPER volunteer – from Furkids started a nonprofit to help the feral communities she was caring for in her county. Henry’s House, Feral Community, Inc, has grown due to Jennifer Shepherd’s dedication, love, and effort. It has been amazing to see it evolve as her dream, but with any nonprofit, it needs support to continue its mission and do more good in the community.
Henry’s House’s Mission:
Created to improve the lives of feral cats in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Medical care including spays or neuters, daily wet or dry food, and fresh water is provided to keep cats healthy and limit the size of the communities.
Educational endeavors will help educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering to limit the number of unwanted cats in our area, and the benefits of managing a feral community.
Click HERE to donate to Henry’s House, Feral Community, Inc.
We have several friends in the food industry around Atlanta, and we have known some in crisis. The Giving Kitchen was formed to provide assistance to members of the food industry and without them, workers may not be able to go on.
Giving Kitchen provides emergency assistance to food service workers through financial support and a network of community resources.
We help food service workers
- If you or someone you know is a food service worker in crisis, please ask for help.
- Our financial assistance program is available for food service workers in Georgia who are experiencing crisis. Watch our “how to apply” video for more information.
Stability Network
Our Stability Network is a referral program to serve as a connection to social services for food service workers.
For their stories, visit The Giving Kitchen.
Click HERE to donate to The Giving Kitchen.
Our last nonprofit we'd like to tell you about is the Historic Oakland Foundation. It supports the preservation, improvement, and educational needs of Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia. A beautiful Victorian cemetery spread across 48 acres that features gorgeous architecture, gardens, and monuments. Our family loves to attend the events held every year whether it's the annual Victorian Sunday in the Park festival or their Halloween tours. This year they are seeking monetary support for directional signage for visitors. Signage is key for visitors who want to find loved ones' burial sites, tourists looking for famous residents' graves, sections of the cemetery, and those using the grounds to walk or jog.
“Last year we installed directional signage throughout the East Hill area of the cemetery: a large wayfinding sign by the new East Gate and more than a dozen small directional signs throughout the area pointing visitors to Potters Field, the Main Gate, and other destinations and sections worth exploring. We want to bring that convenience and ease of navigation to the rest of Oakland’s 48 acres, but new signage is expensive. Large wayfinding signs like the one at the East Gate cost about $5,000 each, and small directional signs can run about $300 each.
With your help, we can add more wayfinding signage that will help Oakland’s visitors get where they want to go and make visiting this special place easier for all. Please make a donation toward wayfinding signage at Oakland Cemetery today.”
Click here to donate to the Historic Oakland Foundation.
GivingTuesday
However you choose to contribute today or any day can change the world for the better. Please consider the above organizations or Google your favorite one for a link to donate today or any day of the year. There’s good in the world to celebrate and we need to do so whenever we can.
