LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Did you conquer Black Friday? Did you shop local for Small Business Saturday? Or is Cyber Monday more your speed? No matter where you spend your hard-earned cash, local non-profit agencies want you to remember Giving Tuesday because as Jeff Fitzgerald tells us, giving can be the best reward of all.
Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea, a day that encourages people to do good and non-profits like Our Daily Bread feel the good that the community does not just once a year, but year-round.
"We pretty much run on donations, we receive no government funding whatsoever," stated Randy Kimpel, director of Our Daily Bread. "So all the donations we receive are from the community and it's just, the way we kind of like it is the community keeps us going."
Kimpel says there isn't a day that goes by when a variety of donations are not coming through the door, whether it be clothing, food, or a person's own time.
"Personally, I don't think there's a better place to volunteer than there because you're not just filling a box and not seeing who it goes to. You can actually take a tray to a person and sit down and talk to them if you want and get an idea of what their life is about, they're more than willing to talk, most people," added Kimpel.
The mission of service of the Lima Salvation Army is dependent on and comes down to outside donations. Programs like their food pantry, their after-school program, and right now their Christmas assistance program are only possible because of the generosity of the community. That is especially true during the Christmas season with their Red Kettle campaign which goes a long way to helping others.
"What we collect at Christmas time has to sustain us through the entire year," said Paul Downing, operations manager at the Lima Salvation Army. "So a good kettle season means I can do more programs in the summer, you know, so it really stretches out for us, and it's a big part of our budget, so it's vital that we're out there and that we get the community support that we do receive and we got a great loving community so got to say thank you to them."
So what can you give to help out the Salvation Army and Our Daily Bread?
"Well, hats, coats, gloves right now is a big thing, especially for men, basically the bigger sizes," stated Kimpel. "And we can always use butter, sugar, and ranch dressing."
"Everybody can do something, that's really what it comes down to. It doesn't matter if it's a penny or it's a hundred dollars, or you know, more. It really, do what you can do to help others in your community, and you'll feel a lot better for it, and you'll be blessed, you really will," said Downing.
