Did you brave the masses on Black Friday?  Were you glued to your computer screen for Cyber Monday?  The holiday season brings a lot of fun and a sense of community, but it also brings out a lot of rushing, consumerism, and stress.  Wouldn’t it be great if we had one day during this time that was dedicated to the greater good and giving gifts that could change lives?  That was the thought the creators of GivingTuesday had, so last year they launched a national day of giving back to start off the holiday season.  December 3, 2013 is the second annual GivingTuesday and we’re proud to be one of the 8,302 partners in this movement focused on making communities better places.

We’re not just partnering with GivingTuesday, we’re also working with some of the great organizations in our region to help spread the word about this day of giving back.  The Kalamazoo Community Foundation, the Battle Creek Community Foundation, Volunteer Kalamazoo, and HandsOn Battle Creek will all be participating with us.  

We’d love to see everyone in our community get involved with GivingTuesday, and the great news is that there are so many ways to be part of this movement!

• You can volunteer.  HandsOn Battle Creek and Volunteer Kalamazoo have a ton of great opportunities across our region.
• You can advocate.  GivingTuesday is encouraging people to take “unselfies.”  Take a picture, tag it #unselfie and upload it to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.  To make it even better, include a handwritten note in the picture about why you believe in giving back.  On our website, we have opportunities to donate Facebook posts or tweets to help spread the word about the amazing work being done in our community.  These are all great ways to help raise awareness about GivingTuesday online.
• You can give.  All of our sites have the option to give online, and GivingTuesday has a whole list of partners and ways to both give to them or get more involved with their organizations through volunteer work or advocacy.

Please join us for GivingTuesday, and take just one day of the holiday season to help us change the story in our region.