Giving Tuesday Gathers Goods for Holiday Season

With Thanksgiving and the Holidays right around the corner, people are starting to look for new ways they can give back to the community. Volunteer Oxford, which calls itself as a “matchmaker” volunteer agency, is helping residents in the Lafayette/Oxford/University community find opportunities and organizations where they can give back.

This year, Volunteer Oxford teamed up with the United Way of Oxford-Lafayette County, the Medical Reserve Corps and the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) to organize and promote Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday brings 17 local non-profit organizations together to provide one donation location during the holiday season. Donations will be collected at the Oxford Activity Center at the corner of Price Street and Molly Barr Road on Tuesday, December 3.

“Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all about buying gifts – whether for yourself or for others, but Giving Tuesday gives you the opportunity to give back to the community,” said Sarah Ball, director of Volunteer Oxford.

Participating organizations include The Christmas Store, the Food Pantry, the Girl Scouts Heart of the South and Oxford–Lafayette Humane Society.

The Ole Miss basketball program even donated tickets to their December 8th game against Oregon to be raffled off on Giving Tuesday. Everyone who donates an item will be entered in the raffle.

Giving Tuesday started in New York in 2012 and has more than 2500 recognized partners. The message of Giving Tuesday was spread across the country on social media using hashtags (#). Ball said she and Volunteer Oxford are beyond excited to be involved in the movement and honored to have brought it to Oxford. To jump start the event, representatives from the L-O-U Giving Tuesday committee will be outside of Larson’s Cash Saver from 10am- 2pm on Saturday, Nov. 23 handing out wish lists and collecting early donations.

Giving Tuesday donations will be accepted Tuesday, December 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oxford Activity Center. For a complete list of organizations and suggested donation items, visit http://hottytoddy.com/2013/11/07/2013-giving-tuesday-wish-list/.

Or check out givingtuesday.org for more information and other cities and organizations accepting donations on Dec. 3 around the country.

It is important to remember that all of the organizations involved do accept donations year-round too.

– Emily Xie is a student in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media and an intern for HottyToddy.com.