Five years ago, all I knew about Thanksgiving came from a Tom & Jerry episode. The cat and mouse chase ended up on the dining table, upturning everything in sight—the meticulously arranged place settings, turkey, cranberry sauce, and so on. Now, I know a little more. I know about how it’s a day to reflect on the things you are thankful for and a time to pay it forward. 

Every year, after the pies and the flurry of Black Friday shopping, I found myself eagerly awaiting the following week for #GivingTuesday. My college took part in the movement by gathering donations and thank you notes to scholarship donors and others who made that possible. Some of these would be displayed on campus. But my favorite thing by far were the little orange flags. After a certain denomination had been collected, they would place a little orange flag on one of the lawns. Really, this was a grassy area that everyone passed on their way to the academic buildings. It was wonderful to watch that space transform over the day as the community came together to celebrate generosity and gratitude. Having that physical reminder truly impressed upon us the scope of the impact every little bit can make. And so #GivingTuesday became a day I always looked forward to. But, much like Thanksgiving, I didn't really know what it was about or how it came to be. This year, I decided to put in the effort and find out. 

#GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. It was founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. In July 2019, #GivingTuesday spun out into its own organization, led by its co-founder, Asha Curran, as its CEO. As it says on their own website, the movement was born from a simple idea: “a day that encourages people to do good. Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to give.”

Over the past seven years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. There are many ways to get involved in the movement—from making a contribution yourself to creating Giving Circles with groups of friends, family or co-workers that pool charitable donations, decide where to allocate their money, and learn together. Each year, nonprofits, small businesses, brands, schools, and religious organizations all over the world celebrate the global day of giving. The advantage of having one movement that acts as the organizational umbrella is that the information about their outreach or ways to get involved are readily available and easy to access. As the largest global collaborated philanthropy effort, #GivingTuesday is a movement we should support so it can be woven into our societal fabric through tradition. 

The smallest contribution goes a long way, even if it may be just spreading awareness on social media through #GivingTuesday or speaking for an organization’s good work. We hope that you keep Center of Life in mind when you give this #GivingTuesday. Your generous support for COL makes it possible for the children and families we serve to not only survive, but thrive. We rely on donations from supporters like you to help us provide world-class programs for our community. Thank you!

This year, on December 3, give. And do it consciously. Because even if you don’t have a grass lawn filling up with little orange flags as physical evidence of your impact—it doesn’t mean you haven’t facilitated change. You may not celebrate Thanksgiving, but take a moment to reflect on the idea it carries to us today—What are you grateful for? How can you pass it on?

-Arista Engineer