Today is Giving Tuesday—a global day dedicated to generosity and community support.
The movement started in 2012 as a simple idea: after the spending of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, set aside a day to give back.
Giving Tuesday has grown into a worldwide campaign that encourages people to donate, volunteer, or support causes close to home.
Here locally, one group, for example, works with feral cats and kittens and says even small contributions can make a big difference.
The nonprofit Erie Trap and Release, founded in 2013, focuses on humanely trapping feral cats, getting them vaccinated, and ensuring they’re spayed or neutered to help control the population.
Kittens that can be socialized are placed in foster care while volunteers work to find them new homes. Leaders say Giving Tuesday often brings in the support they rely on throughout the year.
“So, we can help more feral cats and kittens get spayed, neutered, and vaccinated, and so we can help get the injured off the streets. And possibly, hopefully, we get a bigger place too. We want to get a bigger place—big time.”
Erie Trap and Release have a Facebook fundraiser as well as a PayPal option for donations today.
They aren’t the only place in Erie accepting donations. Later in the show, we will meet some other groups asking for support this year.
Holley Short the executive director of the Erie Bird Observatory talked about how the organization benefits from generous donations.
Erie Bird Observatory is a non-profit dedicated to avian research, education, and conservation in northwest Pennsylvania
The goal of this organization is to foster enthusiasm for bird conservation, research, and education. The observatory is looking for support so they can continue to grow their organization.
Support from giving Tuesday would allow for the organization to continue to work on tracking birds ensuring that they can be monitored.