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Agencies hoping for generosity on 'Giving Tuesday'

While the financial need is great this year, so is the need of time.

INDIANAPOLIS — After Black Friday, there's Shop Local Saturday, followed by Cyber Monday, and then Giving Tuesday.

"It is a very powerful day, where the entire globe really unites around causes and tries to inspire people to give back to their community in any way that they can," said Jessica Di Santo with the United Way of Central Indiana.

The United Way of Central Indiana was the first chapter in the country to shift resources to help during the pandemic and unemployment surge, she said.

"We still have easily thousands and thousands of people in poverty or close to poverty who need food, who need shelter, who need help with medicines," Di Santo said.

Agencies also have new needs. The Boys & Girls Club of Boone County expanded its food service.

"It was open to anybody and by the end, about 70 percent of the people who came were senior citizens. So even though we’re a Boys & Girls Club, the senior citizens needed it," said Mark Branch, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Boone County.

It comes during a tough time financially.

"We’re looking at a loss of about $300,000 this year due to COVID," Branch said.

Credit: Matt McCutcheon
Donated items for Salvation Army.

It's a similar story at New Hope of Indiana, which couldn’t host its major fundraiser and must hope for next summer.

"We all hope that by June things will be different, but we have no idea. So for many not-for-profits, this could be a two-year fundraising deficit," said New Hope of Indiana CEO Allison Wharry.

The agency, which provides services for Hoosiers with developmental disabilities, also has new costs.

"In addition to PPE, we’ve had to have all new technology because we moved our services to tele-services we didn’t have enough laptops," she explained.

While the financial need is great, so is the need of time. The Salvation Army needs help processing donations for children as part of its Angel Tree program.

"The biggest gap is volunteers. I know a lot of people are hesitant of coming in person," said Capt. Brenna Lee with the Salvation Army of Central Indiana.

The movement isn’t just about donations of money and time.

The Giving Tuesday website suggests things like sending a gift card for food or a "thank you" note to emergency and front line workers.

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