Give For Good, north Louisiana’s largest day of philanthropic giving, returns May 3 with its biggest goal yet.
Give for Good is a 24-hour online campaign organized by the Community Foundation of North Louisiana. This year, event organizers have set a goal of $2.5 million.
And while May 3 is the official day of giving, donors started giving to organizations of their choice a couple of weeks ago via online donations. This year, roughly 240 nonprofits in north Louisiana are participating in the event.
One of those nonprofits is Shreveport Bossier Animal Rescue (SBAR). This rescue is a no-kill shelter dedicated to rescuing and finding homes for abandoned or stray cats.\
Christy Mathis, SBAR treasurer, said their shelter has over 130 cats across their shelter and foster homes. This charitable event is depended on to alleviate the strain on their donors, volunteers, and fosters giving animals a chance at a home.
She also adds that Give for Good is doubly important as SBAR’s efforts are further strained by the influx of kittens the area sees in spring and summer.
“Give for Good comes at a really important time for our shelter. May is right in the middle of ‘kitten season’ where we see unaltered stray cats having litters of kittens, making our out-of-control stray problem even worse,” said Mathis. “The generosity of our local community helps provide a resource to rescue these animals who have been failed by their previous owners and don’t deserve to be put down or forgotten on the streets.”
Last year, SBAR adopted out nearly 75 cats and Mathis says donations from events like Give for Good and their regular donors make that possible.
“I can’t thank our regular donors and the Give for Good donors, as well as those who contribute to our yearly fundraising events like ‘Meowy Christmas,’ enough for all they do. You are the reason we have seen so many cats be given a good home and see families add a new member to their household.”
Since 2014, Give for Good has raised more than $14 million for the local community, including $1.98 million raised by 5,599 donors for 237 organizations in 2020, during a time when most people were out of work.
That record was broken in 2021, with more than $2 million raised from more than 5,400 donors.
Participating is easy- Simply visit giveforgoodnla.org, choose which organizations you want to support, add them to your cart, then check out. Donors will receive an emailed receipt and all gifts are 100 percent tax deductible. The minimum gift is $10.
On Give for Good day, leaderboards will be live so that donors can follow the action in real time.
To learn more about how to “give for good,” contact the Community Foundation at 318-221-0582.
— Angel Albring, BIZ. Magazine
