KEARNEY — In its 12th year, the Kearney Area Community Foundation’s 2024 Give Where You Live event was leaning into the theme of “Peace, Love, Community.”
Give Where You Live is 24 hours giving event where donations can be made to local charitable organizations. Since its inception in 2013, Give Where You Live has raised more than $11.5 million for local nonprofits.
“Give Where You Live is a community effort powered by the Kearney Area Community Foundation that encourages area nonprofits to build their capacity, find new donors, and identify new funding streams. KACF’s goal is to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in one day by encouraging local residents to support their favorite charities,” per the KACF.
This year, there were 201 charitable causes that could be given to, an increase from 188 in 2023.
Judi Sickler, KACF President/CEO, said of the increase that the word about Give Where You Live continues to spread throughout the community, often by word of mouth.
Sickler said she thought they had seen a peak in the number of organizations taking part, but she said the increase goes to show how the Kearney community continues to grow.
Many of the smaller nonprofit organizations use Give Where You Live as their primary fundraising tool, Sickler said and noted the event helps provide, “magic for a day,” for all the organizations.
Support for local organizations goes beyond money and Give Where You Live helps to promote awareness of all the different groups in Kearney.
Andi Hartman, Communications Coordinator, said that donors online could use a search feature to find organizations that fell under a category such as, animals, faith or health.
Hartman said Give Where You Live can act as a one-stop-shop for those wishing to make donations or learn more about what organizations are at work in the community.
The theme this year was, “Peace, Love, Community,” which fully embraced the Summer of Love aesthetic from the late 1960s. There were two Volkswagen vans, and a Beetle parked outside the KCAF offices, decorated with Christmas lights, to help celebrate the theme.
Sickler said the theme had been decided in August and given the national rancor surrounding the Presidential election, the KACF felt this was a good theme to close the year out.
Preparing for Give Where You Live starts on Aug. 1 and the follow up work after the day itself will go into mid-January. Sickler said one staff member makes planning their priority while others assist in subsidiary roles.
However, Sickler said the day wouldn’t be possible without all of the volunteers who take time out of their day to help in various roles, including entering in donations from people who come to the office.
Laurel McKellips, Program Manager, said that this year there were 50 volunteers, including several board members, who worked shifts throughout the day.
Last year, $1.9 million was raised through 6,766 individual donations, Sickler said they were close to the $2 million mark and would be thrilled to achieve that mark this year.
Looking at the numbers at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sickler said they were ahead of where they were last year.
By 10:46 a.m., $400,000 had been raised and the number continued to grow.
