The North Grenville Community Fund (NGCF) has launched an initiative to encourage charitable giving this holiday season. The #NGGives Campaign is inspired by Giving Tuesday, a global movement for generosity that takes place each year after Black Friday, when charities, companies, and communities join together to support their favourite causes. In 2019, Giving Tuesday was celebrated in over 200 countries and engaged millions of Canadians, raising over $21 million for causes across the country. At the meeting on November 3, North Grenville municipal council threw their support behind the initiative and proclaimed December 1 as Giving Tuesday in the municipality this year.
“We know it’s a very significant day, so we’re really pleased to see that you wanted to mark that moment here in North Grenville,” Mayor Peckford told NGCF Chair, Daren Givoque, who made the presentation about Giving Tuesday to council.
The NGCF has spearheaded #NGGives to inspire businesses and individuals to take part in Giving Tuesday this year. People can participate by donating to any local charity, but the NGCF’s campaign is centred on raising money for the House of Lazarus’ (HOL) Adopt a Family program. This program provides gifts, treats, and a holiday meal to families, couples, and seniors in need in the community.
Usually, the people who sign up to donate shop for groceries; but, this year, HOL is providing all the food for the holiday hampers. According to the HOL, they already have 100 food bank clients signed up for the Adopt a Family program this year. “You’ve got nothing without food,” says Daren. “All charities make a big difference, but if you can’t feed families in a community, that is a big problem.”
Local food banks have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer donations and higher demand. “Food banks around the country have been seriously impacted by the pandemic, having to manage with fewer volunteers while adapting their operations and serving new clients affected by the crisis,” says HOL Food Bank Director, Kim Merkley. “The wider community plays an important role in taking action against increasing food insecurity accelerated by the pandemic. The #NGGives campaign will inspire donations at a variety of levels, helping us work towards alleviating hunger in our community.”
The NGCF is encouraging local businesses, families, or individuals to donate the $200 needed to adopt a family in need for the holidays. Fundraising can be done through all kinds of challenges and fundraising efforts, and the NGCF would love to see the community get creative. Mr. Mozzarella in Kemptville will be donat- ing a portion of the sales of their cannoli between November 17 and December 1 to the cause, and the Kemptville Rotary Club will be hosting an online seminar, with proceeds going towards the #NGGives campaign.
Daren says the hope is that people will use the #NGGives hashtag to post what they are doing to support the initiative and challenge others to do the same. He encourages people to not only participate themselves, but also pick up the phone, send emails and texts to challenge others to get on board. The NGCF will be donating $5 for every social media post using the hashtag #NGGives to HOL, to a limit of $1,500 – the equivalent of feeding seven families. “There is incredible momentum behind this to get it going,” Daren says. “But the only way it’s going to get out there is if people talk about it.”
Donations to the NGCF campaign for HOL can be made through their website www.northgrenvillecommunityfund.com. All donations must be made before Giving Tuesday on December 1, when money raised will be presented to HOL through a Facebook Live event.
The NGCF is a charitable organization that manages a permanent endowment fund through the Ottawa Community Foundation. The earnings from that endowment fund are distributed in the form of grants four times a year to support a wide range of charitable causes in the North Grenville community.
