Giving Tuesday generosity needed more than ever in pandemic holiday season

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Giving Tuesday comes each year after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as a chance to balance out all the spending done on one’s self and their own family with giving back to their community.

Colorado Springs non-profit organization leaders say, the need for generosity this Giving Tuesday is great.

“The need is tremendous. Right after Thanksgiving, people found that they don’t have a job,” said Cindy Aubrey, Pikes Peak United Way’s chief executive officer.

Colorado Springs non-profits Crossfire Ministries, Care and Share, and United Way (which partners with several other local non-profits) have said the need for their services has skyrocketed during the pandemic. In many cases, such as the need for food at Care and Share’s bi-weekly food giveaways, the need has more than doubled compared to before the pandemic.

“We’re starting to see a lot of families who maybe had never used our services before, had never been in need before, are starting to say, ‘Hey, things are really tight,’” said Renee Bebe with the food pantry Crossfire Ministries.

United Way’s CEO added that a cause they’re passionate about this year is Operation School Bell, a program dedicated to getting coats, hats, scarves and gloves to children who otherwise step out into the cold with nothing to keep them warm.

Colorado Gives Day is similar and is exactly one week after Giving Tuesday. It encourages Coloradans to find a cause they care about and donate to that cause this holiday season. Local non-profits say they generally pull in more from Colorado Gives Day and Giving Tuesday.

Bebe added, “It’s an amazing time for the community to step up and say, ‘Hey, I have a couple extra bucks, I can send that to a local non-profit.’”

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