#GivingTuesday was truly generous. The collected money will help NGOs, children and shelters

Families in need, the elderly and the homeless received both financial and material help. “The mission of #GivingTuesday is to inspire as many people as possible to be generous. Our goal is to create an ecosystem of giving that helps communities and organizations around the world,” said Asha Curran, Executive Director of #GivingTuesday. 

One hundred countries joined the global initiative on the 28th of November, including Slovakia for the seventh time. “Despite difficult times, #GivingTuesday shows empathy and humanity all around us. These are values that should always be kept in mind, because the idea of GivingTuesday goes beyond one particular Tuesday,” noted Michal Kišša, Executive Director of the Pontis Foundation, which is the ambassador of #GivingTuesday in Slovakia. 

We have teamed up with donor and volunteer platforms. This is the result

This year, 339 organizations, 48 companies, and thousands of individual donors and volunteers participated in #GivingTuesday. Good deeds were happening in more than 54 cities. In addition to fundraising, there were collections of groceries, clothing or food for animal shelters, benefit concerts and volunteer events. 

The cooperation of the Pontis Foundation with donor and volunteer platforms resulted in four hundred donor appeals and 22 volunteer opportunities. This #GivingTuesday collaboration resulted in an impressive amount of more than 393 thousand euros contributed by generous donors between November 21st and December 5th. They supported not only individual, but also corporate appeals to help specific non-profit organizations. 

On the occasion of #GivingTuesday, the portal Darujme.sk collected 217 764 euros. Some companies organized so-called matching appeals in which they multiplied the donations of their employees, adding up to a total of 42 570 euros. 

Another 107 081 euros were sent by donors to the collections organized by Ľudiaľuďom.sk. The Donio.sk portal counted a total of 68 714 euros within 50 different collections. 

Thanks to this money, Stelka with cerebral palsy can afford a rehabilitation stay and the collected amount will also allow a cancer patient Danka to pay for her expensive medicine. Other collections were also successful, for example money was raised for finger warmers going to the soldiers in neighbouring Ukraine and for the care of abandoned animals in a shelter. 

Generosity was shown by both the high schoolers and public administration workers

Grammar school students from Stropkov collected winter clothes for homeless people and handed them over to the Greek Catholic Charity in Prešov. Employees of the Local Authority Bratislava – Staré Mesto took part in the Day of Generosity for the fifth time. They collected money and donated milk bottle sterilisers, bottle warmers and cloth as well as disposable nappies to the Neonatal Clinic in Petržalka. “We are sincerely pleased with the level of involvement of our office. There are good people working here,” said the organisers of the activity from the Department of Inclusion and Social Affairs of the city district. 

They donated their time as volunteers to people with mental and physical disabilities from the Rosa Social Services Facility, for whom they prepared a sports morning and also brought raffle prizes. 

#GivingTuesday strengthens partnerships between business and community 

Over the seven years of #GivingTuesday, many businesses and organizations have forged lasting relationships. “By partnering with Adient, we have been able to provide material assistance to single parents and their children, multi-child families, and families with financial and health challenges. The help is very effective and exactly what is needed,” said Mária Machová from the civic association Centre for Family in Trenčín. This year, the Adient’s Adopt a cheque appeal brought in more than 1 760 euros. This initiative helps families pay for kindergartens, after-school clubs, boarding schools, meals and clubs. 

TV Markiza joined in the festival of giving with a collection to support children’s mental health. As a result, 118 thousand euros were raised for the construction of a children’s psychiatric stationery at the University Hospital in Martin. 

#GivingTuesday also connected the Together with Courage Foundation and DXC Technology. Its employees baked sweets and offered them to their colleagues in exchange for a voluntary contribution. “They prepared a charity market of 3D print toys made by colleagues as well as an auction of pictures created by our children during an art workshop with the participation of artist Matej Fabián,” the administrator of the foundation, Katarína Turčanová, described the activities during the Day of Good Deeds. Thanks to these, 1 130 euros were collected. 

The organization Christians in the city, in cooperation with Accace, cooked soup for people in need also this year. “It is wonderful when one learns to help selflessly and joyfully, as the Accace employees do. It especially helps our organization to stay motivated to continue providing this service to the people in need and homeless people,” said Vojtech Odraška from Christians in the City.