Giving Tuesday to help nonprofits
After shopping sprees on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Humboldt County’s local nonprofits are seeking donations for Giving Tuesday, a day meant to shift the holiday season’s focus from consumerism to community improvement.
Residents have plenty of local organizations to choose from and often end up selecting nonprofits that fit causes they have personal experience with, said Anne Holcomb, executive director of Food for People, a Eurekabased food bank. Food for People
is seeking financial donations in order to meet the rising cost of food, though it also has donated food barrels throughout the county.
“Turkeys went from $1.29 a pound last year to $49 a pound this year. We used to be able to get whole chickens for about $3 each and this year, they were between eight and $11,” Holcomb said. “Things like canned tuna and chickens have been up by about 50%, eggs went from $1.25 to $1.50 dozen last year to up to $3.20 per dozen and a lot of other things have increased by 25 to 30%.”
The nonprofit’s storage capacity is limited because its new facility has not been completed yet. The facility is expected to be operational by February 2023.
Food for People had to build a cooler and lease refrigerated containers for food storage, but the new space, once open, will triple its refrigeration capacity.
Holcomb added that Giving Tuesday can be a way to shift attention away from the consumerism-based pseudo-holiday of Black Friday.
The Betty Kwan Chinn Foundation, which offers a variety of services to people who are homeless, is seeking sleeping bags and blankets. Residents who wish to donate may do so at the day center in Eureka from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
“Inflation raised the cost of all of the supplies we use, so we’ve had to buy less,” Betty Chinn said in an email.
Cooperation Humboldt, which has several community aid programs, would like more scheduled financial donors for Giving Tuesday, citing the need for ongoing funding with money that isn’t attached to grants, which require spending on a specific project.
Hedgie Enge, a volunteer with Cooperation Humboldt, noted that the nonprofit has seen inflation in the form of tighter budgets from its donors, which means less donation money flowing in as costs rise for essentials like food and gas.
People may sign up to donate at cooperationhumboldt.com.
“It’s (Giving Tuesday) a way of being connected and feeling like you can do something good,” Enge said. “Every time people connect in Cooperation Humboldt or whatever group that they’re supporting, there’s a way of not feeling isolated and ineffectual.”