What is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday has grown into a worldwide event that focuses on giving to others, including organizations that provide services to those in need. Held the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday encourages people to do good deeds and help make generosity and kindness a bigger part of society.
It’s an event that has special meaning for Hope Grows, which holds a donation drive each year on this special day. Among the programs that Giving Tuesday donations support is the Iris Respite House that will provide a place of support and rejuvenation for family caregivers.
While still relatively new, Giving Tuesday has become a global event that has led people to become more active in giving to others with their time, money and support. In a time of much strife around the globe, it’s more needed than ever.
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How Giving Tuesday Started
Giving Tuesday started in 2012 in New York City. Organizers based it on the idea of creating a day that simply encourages people to do good deeds by way of charitable donations in the days after Thanksgiving, a time in recent years where the focus is on shopping for Christmas. The event quickly grew. Now, it is held around the globe, inspiring people to work together and celebrate generosity.
While the idea is simple, the goal is big. The Giving Tuesday organization hopes to build “a more just and generous world.” Those who participate are encouraged to do something for someone else, from helping a neighbor and giving to a worthy cause, or showing up for an issue you believe in and offering a helping hand to a someone, such as a caregiver.
Doing so helps place generosity at the heart of society. It’s worked, In 2019, total giving online for the #GivingTuesday movement reached $511 million. When factoring in money given off line, total donations reached an estimated $2 billion.
The Hope Grows Iris Respite House
When Hope Grows receives donations on Giving Tuesday, one of the missions is to fund operation of the Iris Respite House. The house will offer family caregivers a bread and breakfast experience that is an extension of the Hope Grows mission to inspire hope through nature and provide caregivers a chance to restore body, mind, and spirit.
The Iris Respite House provides caregivers an overnight break from providing care to others, including integrative therapies. The house will provide caregivers whatever they need, from emotional support, nature therapy in the healing gardens on the property, or to simply relax and find balance. No matter where people donate money, or how they spend time helping others, Hope Grows supports the ideas of generosity, kindness and caring for the community embodied in the Giving Tuesday movement. The more the world focuses on how we are all connected, the better the world becomes.
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