The 14th annual North Texas Giving Day made a big impact on the community this year, and a massive $62 million was collected from gracious donors. The day began with nearly $16 million from early giving donations.
Presented by Amazon, the event launched at 6 a.m. yesterday, and donors had until midnight to make donations to more than 3,200 nonprofit organizations. The event was not online only, and many areas around the community joined in on the celebrations of giving. This year, over 94,000 donors participated. Since Giving Day began 14 years ago, half a billion dollars have been raised.
“Amazon aims to leverage our scale for the good of the communities where our employees live and work and North Texas Giving Day gives us an avenue to do just that by investing in a day that not only propels the missions of thousands of nonprofits, but also elevates the spirit of giving so that the impact continues long past the one-day event,” said Vickie Yakunin, Amazon’s Head of Community Affairs in North Texas. “We are proud to invest in a movement that celebrates giving back locally.”
Early giving began September 1 and included 21 days of donations, where a Guinness World Record-breaking number of sandwiches were being made for individuals with food insecurity across North Texas, a sustaining hydroponic garden being built in Decatur benefiting veterans, a big dog party in Denton and many more giving opportunities occurred.
The events included a health and wellness festival by ChildCareGroup in celebration with Communities Foundation of Texas that took place at Exall Park, and former Dallas Cowboys player Everson Walls joined the event to play catch with local kids. At RunUnited Mansfield, Fun, Fitness, and Fundraising hosted by Noggin Educational offered a variety of classes such as yoga, Zumba and boot camps that got everyone sweating and pumped up for the day. If all that exercise got you hungry, sweet treats were available at the Treat Yourself food truck.
Winding down the big day of giving was the Arlington Gives! concert featuring the Brad Thompson Band and Emmeline. Food trucks and other fun activities were also set at the Levitt Pavilion. During the concert, thousands of dollars in prizes were presented to area nonprofits.
“We are honored to serve as a catalyst for giving and we are in awe of the thousands of people that fuel North Texas Giving Day,” said Dave Scullin, President and CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas. “We are thrilled with the millions of dollars that we raised for more than 3,200 nonprofits this year that will do a tremendous amount of good for our community. While everyone hopes to raise more money than the year before, our primary goal is to elevate and celebrate the spirit of giving in general.”
The day of giving is something we will see back for years to come, and remember giving is not just for one day of the year!
To learn more about North Texas Giving Day or see which organizations participated visit www.NorthTexasGivingDay.org.
