Great Give Day is for you

To the Editor,

     Great things happen when people join together for good. Whether volunteering to help children succeed, driving community improvement, or helping our neighbors, Iowans share the will to see our communities thrive.

     For years ago, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque imagined this potential for good concentrated in a single day of giving called Great Give Day. This 24-hour, online-only giving event offered an opportunity for community members of all financial means to come together to support and celebrate our local non-profits. Over the past three years, in a combined span of just three days, community members from Manchester to Waukon have raised nearly $900,000 for more than 100 Northeast Iowa non-profits. These incredible people have come together to make a whopping 6,392 gifts to local non-profits; an average of $129 per person.

     For the fourth year, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque is hosting Great Give Day this Thursday, May 11. When you make a gift of $10 or more, your giving goes further thanks to local corporate sponsorship dollars that magnify donations during hourly contests throughout the day.

     The event is open to all non-profit organizations with endowments funds at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. More than 150 non-profits throughout Dubuque, Allamakee, Clayton, Delaware, Jackson, Jones and Clinton counties will be participating.

     This year, Jones County Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, has 12 non-profit partners participating:

     • Amber Community Club*

     • Anamosa Community School Foundation*

     • Anamosa Library and Learning Center*

     • Aquin Catholic Elementary*

     • Camp Courageous

     • Cascade FFA Alumni†*

     • Friends of the Jones County Conservation and Nature Center*

     • Iowa State Extension Jones County*

     • Jones County Historical Society*

     • Jones County Safe and Healthy Youth Coalition*

     • Jones Regional Medical Center Foundation*

     • Jones Soil & Water Conservation District*

     *These non-profits are directing Great Give Day gifts to their endowment funds, and gifts of $50 or more qualify for the Endow Iowa 25 percent State Tax Credit.

     †Cascade FFA will match up to a total of $6,500 in Great Give Day gifts to their fund.

     During this year’s event on Thursday, may 11, we’re asking for your help to do what we as Northeast Iowans do best: join together for good. Let’s come together again to break $1 million raised for local non-profits. Visit www.GreatGiveDay.org and help make Thursday’s event a success.

     Great Give Day is presented by the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and presenting sponsor Theisen’s Home•Farm•Auto, Dupaco, American Trust & Savings Bank, Dubuque Bank & Trust, Klauer Manufacturing, the Foundation for the Future of Delaware County, and the Allamakee County Community Foundation. Media sponsors include the Telegraph Herald and Radio Dubuque.

     For more information, visit www.GreatGiveDay.org, follow the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque on social media (@dbqfoundation), or call the Foundation at 563-588-2700.

Sherri Hunt

Foundation Coordinator

Jones Co. Community Foundation