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This time of year is often one of joy, gratitude, big meals, big gifts and lots of time with friends and family. As people give thanks for the blessing they enjoy, the holiday season can also be a difficult time for others who might be struggling. And it can be a devastating reminder that not all loved ones are here to share in the festivities.
With retail staples like Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday bringing consumerism to the forefront this time each year, it has been heartening to see a different and more charitable tradition take hold in recent years: Giving Tuesday.
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has become Giving Tuesday, a day centered around giving rather than shopping. The initiative emphasizes support for nonprofits, and has become a multi-billion dollar way of bolstering charitable efforts across the country.
This Giving Tuesday, our thoughts remain first and foremost with the victims, survivors and their families following last month’s mass shooting in Lewiston. Survivors continue to have long, and costly, recoveries ahead of them. Families are experiencing holidays for the first time without their loved ones, after having them taken away so suddenly and so unfairly. The emotional and financial toll of this tragedy will continue to be felt even if national attention has already shifted elsewhere.
We owe these individuals and these families our continued attention and support. We can help them not just with our thoughts and well wishes, but with our dollars.
As emphasized here several weeks ago, there are multiple ways to support them. Various GoFundMe pages have been created to benefit victims, survivors and their families. The Mills administration has compiled a resource page with ways to help. Potential efforts and organizations to support include but are not limited to the City of Lewiston Support Fund, United Way of Androscoggin County’s Community Fund, The Central Maine Medical Center Compassionate Care Fund for Trauma Response and Support and the Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund set up by the Maine Community Foundation. The BDN created a collection of merchandise featuring artwork from cartoonist George Danby, and the proceeds have been donated to the Lewiston-Auburn Response Fund.
In addition to this ongoing and needed work to keep supporting shooting victims and their families, a host of other challenges continue to face families across the state, country and world. Organizations working to tackle food insecurity, respond to disasters or deliver heating aid also deserve support on Giving Tuesday and throughout the year. The same is true for nonprofits working to support marginalized communities or bolster the arts.
Even with much to be thankful for this and every holiday season, there are still many challenges that require time and resources from those who have them to give.
We hope that people with the ability to continue donating to worthy causes will continue doing so. Whether it is supporting families impacted by the Lewiston shooting or those struggling through a long list of other challenges, Giving Tuesday is an important opportunity to give back and to help those in need.
