GIVING TUESDAY

Keep your dollars local this year with this giving guide

Giving Tuesday, also known as the Global Day of Giving, is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s a day dedicated to doing something goodfor others.

Giving Tuesday gives nonprofit organizations the chance to fundraise while highlighting what they do and who they support. It originated in New York City in 2012 and was founded by New York’s 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation.

Here’s a sampling of Pittsburgh organizations looking for support, especially this Tuesday.

Sustainable Pittsburgh, established in 1998 as a part of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, works to change the regional narrative about sustainability and to “meet the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” according to its website. Funds donated on Giving Tuesday will be matched up to a total of $3,403 by current and former board members.

Donations can be made at sustainablepittsburgh.org/ donate.

The Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh provides programs like the EcoInnovation District, whose “approach is a new model of public-private partnership that emphasizes innovation and deployment of district-scale practices to create the neighborhoods of the future — resilient, vibrant, resource-efficient and just,” as described on the organization’swebsite.

Winners of the Community Development Project of the Year, Sustainable Pittsburgh will use all funds raised on Giving Tuesday to continue their work to responsibly develop neighborhoods. Donate at uptownpartners.org.

Pittsburgh Hires Veterans provides support to former and active military, including spouses, including training and employment opportunities. More information can be found at pittsburghhiresveterans.org/ donate.

Operation Walk Pittsburgh is a volunteer organization working to provide the gift of mobility to those in need in Central America. Teams include surgeons and nurses trained in joint replacement and education in subjects like arthritis and joint health. This year, they have set their biggest goal yet, hoping to reach $30,000.

Find out more on how to donate at operationwalkpgh.org.

The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

will use its donations from Giving Tuesday to help fund dance scholarships in its training school and classroom residency programs that promote kinesthetic learning. PBT is also offering specialized dance classes promoting muscle strength, balance and rhythm to those suffering from Parkinson’s and

Alzheimer’s diseases.

Donations can be made atpbt.org.

The Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh will be using funds donated this Tuesday to help survivors of domestic violence, and thanks to a generous grant from Michele and Todd Dominick, the first $10,000 raised in online gifts will be matched. Every year, more than 7,500 survivors and their children reach out to the Women’s Center & Shelter.

Show your support by donating at wcspittsburgh.org.

412 Food Rescue focuses on providing heathy food to those in need while also doing their best to prevent food waste. The 412 Food Rescue app is available for download on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store, where you cansign up to help.

Donations are also being accepted at 412foodrescue.org.

Friends of the Pittsburgh Fisher House support a part of the VA Pittsburgh Oakland campus that contains 10 suites for families and caregivers to be near their veteran or activeduty loved ones when they are hospitalized at the VA hospital. Giving Tuesday donations help the organization continue their goal “to ease the burden of our veterans and their families during difficult times.”

Learn more about the Fisher House and donate at pittsburghfisherhouse.org.

The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is installing a new chiller for its penguins, and donations from Giving Tuesday will help it complete this mission. Temperatures need to be kept at a chilly 35-40 degrees. Donations will also go toward making sure that the zoo is able to provide continued care for the animals and plants living there.

More information can be found at pittsburghzoo.org.

Google Artists perform the Dance of the Four Little Swans in Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's 2018 production of "Swan Lake."

Therese Joseph, left, and Megan McGregor, with ocean creatures they helped make from plastic drinking straws and plastic waste reclaimed from rivers as part of the 2019 “Straw Forward” art installation at the Carnegie Science Center. The artwork is made from 25,000 straws collected by Shift Collaborative and the Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurant Program.

Mike Guisto, left, shows a group of veterans quality control testing at Superbolt in Scott. The tour was sponsored by Pittsburgh Hires Veterans, which works to connect veterans with manufacturing jobs.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Macaroni penguins Elsa and Cakey walk at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium in Highland Park in 2014.