CHARITIES
Give a little on Tuesday
We all know 2020 hasn't been an especially fun year, and it's normal to feel paralyzed and helpless with global-level events like COVID-19.
But there is a remedy for that feeling of despair: Taking action to help others.
Giving Tuesday was conceptualized in 2012 as something of an antidote to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other consumption-based holidays. There is an umbrella website, givingtuesday.ca which lists organizations in need.
Here are some local charities that are a good place to start:
SHELTER NOVA SCOTIA
shelternovascotia.com It's easier to “stay the blazes home” when you have a home. Not everyone does and Shelter Nova Scotia is trying to change that.
“Our mission is to help people in crisis transition back into the community,” says Jayme Lynn Butt, public relations and fundraising manager for Shelter Nova Scotia.
“Whether it means that you are homeless, or whether you are getting out of jail and are now about to reenter the community, or whether you're somebody who's been chronically homeless and now is being given a supportive apartment, we help you when you're in crisis, we help you transition into the community.”
Shelter Nova Scotia runs six facilities, made up of two emergency shelters, two community residential facilities (what were once called halfway houses), and two supportive apartments for people who have had a hard time finding regular housing.
The organization is trying something new this year to help direct donations where it's most needed. For the holiday season, the group is launching a website which allows donors to buy specific products the shelter needs.
“It's going to give people the ability to help us,” says Butt. “The back end is like something that somebody would use for a wedding registry. And so it's got lists of all the things we need, it'll show the quantity that we need, and every time that somebody buys it, the quantity goes down.”
THE ANINGA PROJECT aningaproject.ca
Not every child gets to go to school, and not every child gets to live the life they deserve. Organizations like the Aninga Project tackle that injustice, one child at a time.
The Aninga Project operates as two teams, one based in Halifax, the other in East Africa.
“We educate and empower young women in Uganda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” says Jenny Benson. “We work with community organizations in each of those countries who have been looking to educate and empower young women themselves. “
Having teams in each place help the organization leverage the strengths of each.
“It's much more difficult to fundraise there than it is here,” says Benson. “We give them the boost that they need to put girls into school. All of our girls are in different schools, so we want to make sure that they are a cohesive unit and that they feel the support of our organization wherever they are in the country.”
The Aninga Project was launched in 2006 from a collaboration between two families: The Bensons from Canada and their friends the Asikis, from Uganda.
Aninga is the name of the first girl they sent to school. They are currently supporting 40 girls.
“The girls have to make commitments about their willingness to learn, their enthusiasm about school,” says Benson. “We support them all the way through university, so we have regular check-ins with them. We don't want to be sending people to school that don't want to be in school.”
COVID-19 has had a major impact on these girls and has temporarily shifted the project's priorities.
“We're delivering food, cooking oil, rice, water, just to keep people alive because the government put lockdowns in place without thinking about how people would eat,” says Benson.
“That came with significant costs that were unexpected for us in a year where we can't deliver any of our normal fundraisers.”
They will be launching their biggest fundraiser of the year, Holiday Hope, on Giving Tuesday, with information available on their website.