After Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday, and it happens next week. Giving Tuesday is a Canadian movement for giving and volunteering. Billing itself as the “opening day of the giving season,” it is a day where charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about others. Join the movement by visiting givingtuesday.ca.
Celiac organization gathers
The Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association invites anyone with gluten or wheat allergy issues to attend its December general meeting, to be held via Zoom and/or telephone connection on Dec. 5 at 11 a.m. The guest speaker will be Dr. Jocelyn Silvester, attending physician at Boston Children’s Hospital and instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Silvester will address “The Gluten-Free Balancing Act: Evidence and Tools to Help Patients Thrive in a Gluten-Eating World at Home and at School.” To attend, please register in advance by emailing office@manitobaceliac.com.
Enjoy the Winnipeg Jets Gala at home
The Winnipeg Jets Gala Dinner in support of the True North Youth Foundation is moving online for its eighth annual event. Singer-songwriter Don Amero and TSN reporter Sara Orlesky will host the Winnipeg Jets Gala... At Home on Dec. 10. The evening will include special remarks, player interviews, a silent auction, a raffle and musical entertainment courtesy of Amero, streamed to guests’ homes. Wellness gift boxes delivered to guests’ homes will complete the experience. The event benefits the TNYF, which impacts more than 60,000 youth annually through its three core programs: the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy, Camp Manitou and Project 11. To purchase tickets, email jetsgala@tnse.com or call 204-926-5524. Visit tnyf.ca/gala for more information.
Help Lighthouse Mission feed the hungry
Lighthouse Mission continues to feed hungry Winnipeggers during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can help by contributing to the organization’s Empty Plate Fundraiser, which is already almost halfway to its $25,000 goal. Just $20 will buy the food needed to provide meals to a single person for a month.
Visit lighthousemission.ca to donate.
Donate to the Christmas Cheer Board
Thousands of people rely on the 101-year-old Christmas Cheer Board annually, and the charity expects the need to increase this year as a result of the pandemic. Instead of its usual hampers, the Cheer Board is giving qualifying families vouchers so they can buy between $30 and $100 worth of food this holiday season. The Cheer Board is leaning more heavily on financial donations, as a result. Make a donation at christmascheerboard.ca.
Gift ideas from MCC
Mennonite Central Committee, the international relief, development and peace organization whose Canadian headquarters are in Winnipeg, has released the 2020 edition of its annual Christmas giving guide, which is full of ideas for teachers, gardeners, animal lovers and everyone else on your list.
The gifts are quick and easy to purchase online, and they help people in need around the world. Just $9 buys a solar lantern for a student in Burkina Faso, while $13 pays for a brood of chickens, $20 pays for medical care for uprooted families and $80 helps a family in Bolivia plant their own garden. There are many more options to choose from. Visit mcccanada.ca/christmas for details.
Podcast offers fundraising advice
If you are a non-profit leader, marketer or fundraiser looking for practical tips and strategies, the Build Good Podcast is for you. Listen at buildgood.org/podcast.