After a big weekend of food and shopping on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, Tuesday gives you a way to give back through Giving Tuesday.
Giving Tuesday, which takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is now an independent nonprofit and gives a day to make a collective impact on our communities.
Central members have been doing just that since 2006 through Central’s Operation Round Up program.
“Operation Round Up provides funds to nonprofits and residents through the Central Community Foundation,” said Larry Mattox, Central Director of Communications. “The program allows Central members to round their bill to the next whole dollar which then is distributed throughout Central’s service area.”
The program collects almost $100,000 annually and has provided grants to more than 20 residents, 30 organizations and 37 disaster relief needs this year.
“The program has raised more than one million dollars in its 15 years,” said Mattox. “Our Round Up program was not the first but has grown tremendously to benefit our entire service area.
In recent years, Central unveiled Round Up Plus which allows members to take giving to the next level.
“Through the Round Up Plus program, members can make an additional fixed monthly donation on top of their usual Operation Round Up amount,” said Mattox.
For the second year, members with emails attached to their accounts had the opportunity to donate their capital credits to benefit local communities, nonprofits and residents in need through the Central Community Foundation.
Nearly 300 members donated more than $4,700 of their capital credits to the foundation. These donations will be included with the Operation Round Up donations and distributed through grants in 2023.
Central Members can see the impact the Foundation is making and sign up for it at MyCentral.Foundation.
The Central Community Foundation collects grant applications throughout the year. The next round of applications is due January 15 and can be found at MyCentral.Foundation.