Adrienne Bellinger, the chief development officer at Children’s Trust, discusses the importance of Giving Tuesday and why our organization benefits greatly from the generosity shown by donors in the year’s final month.
The first day of December is Giving Tuesday.
Now in its fourth year, this special day “officially” begins the charitable season, when many people focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. This global celebration of generosity powered by social media – #GivingTuesday – is a movement that encourages philanthropy by uniting nonprofit organizations with individuals, businesses and communities.
Please help Children’s Trust on Giving Tuesday and throughout the month of December by supporting our work to keep South Carolina’s kids safe from abuse, neglect and injury. It’s easy to donate at crowdrise.com/childrenstrustofsc or through our Online Donate Form.
Generous financial gifts throughout this year have helped prevent child abuse and neglect by supporting programs that strengthened families, provided home visitors who coach young parents on proper care and development for infants, and kept many children safe from accidental injury.
In my two years at Children’s Trust, I’ve proudly watched our dedicated staffers share these programs throughout South Carolina. They have worked tirelessly with partners in communities of all sizes and demographics to ensure the families who need the services of these programs received them.
We know what works, and we know how to equip local organizations and agencies to introduce and sustain proven, evidence-based programs that change lives. The only way to continue that success is with the committed support of generous donors.
I have witnessed firsthand the life-changing results in our Strengthening Families Program which, over the course of 14 sessions, works to significantly improve parenting skills and family relationships, reduce problem behaviors, and increase a child’s social competencies and school performance.
At one SFP graduation ceremony, I saw a mother who entered the program with addiction issues and a volatile personality transform into one who interacted affectionately with her young child. And I heard her say, “Until tonight, I’ve never graduated from anything in my life.”
We’re reaching people where they reside, and we’re having positive impacts on their lives. Yet our work is far from done in this state, which ranks No. 42 nationally in child well-being. That’s 42 out of 50. With your help, we can do better.
As 2015 draws to a close, we’re asking you to include Children’s Trust in your year-end giving.
Rest assured that your faith in us will be rewarded. We will put your donation to the best use for families. You can help us give every child in our state the chance for a great childhood and every family the chance to be as strong as it can be.
