READY, SET GIVE

Do you want to do your part to support a local nonprofit? Monthlong fundraiser is now underway

Give Big Kern wants to be something positive. It wants to be a breath of fresh air.

The 24-hour day of giving, scheduled this year for May 5, supports hundreds of nonprofits throughout Kern County and usually offers engaging events for the community to attend. This year will have a different approach. It may not be what people have come to expect but it has the same intentions — to give back to the nonprofits that support so many.

Give Big Kern 2020 is a monthlong fundraiser for 132 local nonprofits where anyone can give money now through May 6. All donations will be done through givebigkern.org.

“There aren’t a lot of giving days in California,” said Louis Medina, the director of community impact with Kern Community Foundation. “The idea came of one day where we support nonprofits. We need that. Especially this year.”

According to the California Association of Nonprofits, 1 in 14 California jobs is at a nonprofit. Like other businesses,

charities have been navigating the current pandemic. Now is the time to give back to nonprofits in this time of need, Medina said. The nonprofits range from Marley’s Mutts Dog Rescue to California Living Museum to the Alzheimer’s Disease Association of Kern County.

“I’m making a special appeal to these places that aren’t seen — sports leagues, dance companies, nonprofits support us in so many ways,” Medina said. “If you’ve been helped by a nonprofit, pay it forward.”

Since its creation in 2016, Give Big Kern has raised almost $1 million for local nonprofit agencies with about 40 percent of those funds coming from the 2019 event. According to the Give Big Kern report to the community, last year, 2,808 donors raised $429,755 for 114 nonprofit agencies. A large leap from the $231,187 raised in 2018.

The growth is credited to a change in fundraising tactics like peer-to-peer and gift-matching campaigns. But 2019 also saw a rise in social media driving traffic to the website. There’s uncertainty if the amount of money raised this year will rival that of 2019. Just like everyone, Give Big Kern is treading uncharted territory.

“The hope for any fundraiser is to raise more than the year before,” Medina said. “Even though we’re in dark times, this is where people can step up. It’ll be interesting to see how people respond.”

THE CALIFORNIAN / FILE Staff from the Girl Scouts of Central California South were out in force during Give Big Kern 2018 to draw people for their fundraiser. Nonprofits are having to be more creative for this year’s campaign with guidelines on physical distancing.

ALEX HORVATH / THE CALIFORNIAN / FILE It’s a lot of work, but All Seated in a Barn founder Tahlia Fischer feeds her animals after work every afternoon. The nonprofit, which save horses, mules, zebras from slaughterhouses in Mexico, is one of the groups participating in Give Big Kern.