A Tuesday made for paying it forward

Over the holiday season, people come together to celebrate many things: family, friends, community, faith, generosity, music, and even food (OK, especially food).

All are beyond worthy of our attention and time, and there is a movement underway, growing in recognition and results each year, to add another very important facet to the list: non-profits.

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday provide opportunities to save money as we shop for gifts, GivingTuesday is a day to pause and focus our collective energies on giving support to those who need it most. On Tuesday, Nov. 28, we’re invited to take the time to celebrate the non-profit organizations that support our community in so many ways.

For many people, non-profit organizations may seem invisible. They think of non-profits as charity there for those who need it and they’re lucky enough not to require the services of those that help disadvantaged groups.

But non-profit organizations are for more than feeding the needy and helping those in tough times, as incredibly important as those services are. In fact, you may not even realize just how vital non-profits are to our region and just how far-reaching their impact is.

For instance, if you enjoy theatre, dance, live music or any sort of other arts and culture in our community, you’ve seen non-profits at work. It surprises some to learn that organizations such as Ballet Victoria, Kaleidoscope Theatre, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Langham Court Theatre and so many more are either nonprofits themselves or are supported by their vital non-profit offshoots.

And that’s just one sector. From your local library to your neighbourhood rec centre to your children’s after-school activities to your church, I’m willing to bet each and every reader comes into contact with a non-profit or a non-profit-supported organization regularly, if not daily.

In fact, there are more than 1,000 non-profit organizations at work in Greater Victoria.

So this GivingTuesday, I encourage you to help support the non-profits working in our community. Giving comes in many forms, including time and talent, and around the holidays there are also many opportunities to lend a hand, perhaps at one of the many organizations providing gifts or food for the needy, or at your favourite cause or charity.

So from the Victoria Foundation, its staff, board, and myself, we would like to wish you a happy holidays filled with family, friends, joy, goodwill and, yes, of course, food.