Thanksgiving is the kickoff to a season of giving. Now that you’ve given thanks for blessings revolving around your friends and family, it’s a good time to focus more on how we can all help people across the Lowcountry.
So as you’re out shopping for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or even Festivus, let’s all consider giving back a little extra to organizations that do a lot of good for our communities. While Tuesday was “Giving Tuesday” across the nation, we can use the next month to get more than a tax deduction. We can, as the Giving Tuesday people shout, transform our communities with “radical generosity” to allow local aid groups to do more of their good work.
Reporter Chelsea Grinstead offers more than two dozen ways for you to donate time or money to local charities in this week’s issue of the Charleston City Paper. Take a look and see if you can find a fit.
If you are concerned about climate change, you might want to consider helping groups like the Coastal Conservation League, Charleston Waterkeeper, the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, Charleston Surfrider, the Lowcountry Land Trust or the Center for Birds of Prey. North Charleston’s Water Mission provides clean water all over the world. At a state level, you could impact environmental policy by giving to the S.C. Wildlife Federation and the Conservation Voters of South Carolina.
Or maybe your passion is building the capacity to lift up families across the Lowcountry. You could help to alleviate hunger by giving to the Lowcountry Food Bank, the Lowcountry Blessing Box Project or East Cooper Community Outreach. You could help organizations to buy gifts, supplies and clothing through donations to Lowcountry Orphan Relief, Goodwill, Toys for Tots or the local Closet of Hope.
If you’re looking to help homeless people during the holidays, consider One80 Place and the Homeless to Hope Fund. Other organizations, such as the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center and Florence Crittenton Programs of South Carolina and My Sister’s House, help children and families with much-needed resources. Church-related organizations offer various ways to help, too. For example, Lutheran Services Carolinas is vital in relocating refugees from Ukraine, Afghanistan, the Congo and Guatemala.
If politics is your thing, we suggest you give to groups that bring people together, not political parties that seem to focus too much on division. Locally, you could support entities like the Coastal Community Foundation and Trident United Way. On a statewide level, two groups stand out for consistently promoting and strengthening democracy — the League of Women Voters of South Carolina and the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina.
As you can see, there are obviously more choices to which you can give than will fit in your wallet. The important thing, though, is to do something more. Thank you for whatever you can give.
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