A number of local groups are embracing a relatively new tradition, called Giving Tuesday, in hopes of taking advantage of residents’ charitable sentiments around the holidays.
Designed to follow Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday takes place Tuesday, Nov. 29. Nonprofits Emmaus, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Haverhill and WHAV are among those asking for a boost in donations that day. Both Emmaus and Boys and Girls Clubs have banks matching some of the donations. Haverhill Bank, for example, will match the first $1,500 donated to Emmaus, while Align Credit Union will match up to $1,000.
“Haverhill Bank is pleased to once again partner with Emmaus for Giving Tuesday,” said Haverhill Bank President and CEO Thomas L. Mortimer. “After the success of our first Giving Tuesday collaboration in 2015, in which over $12,000 was raised to benefit Emmaus’ mission to help those less fortunate rebuild their lives, we have the highest hopes for our second year of fundraising. By matching donations up to $1,500, Haverhill Bank can simultaneously support Emmaus through its own contribution while also encouraging others to consider Emmaus when making charitable donations.”
Since 1985, Haverhill-based Emmaus has helped more than 27,000 children and adults out of homelessness and toward self-sufficiency, according to the agency’s data. During the past year, Emmaus helped 3,138 people, including 1,575 children through its shelters and housing programs, the group said. On any given night, 300 adults and children will call Emmaus home.
“Emmaus relies on funds raised during the month of December to keep our programs running throughout the year,” said Emmaus Executive Director Jeanine Murphy. “If we have a tough winter, we need to keep Mitch’s Place, our emergency shelter, open extended hours so that our folks aren’t out in the cold and snow. In order to do that, we need support from our friends in the community. Donations from #GivingTuesday, and the matching gift from Haverhill Bank, will allow us to protect those most in-need.”
Non-Profit 97.9 WHAV Also Seeks to Conclude its ‘Make Waves’ Campaign
WHAV FM antenna being hoisted into place.
WHAV, which placed its new FM radio station on the air at 97.9 during late September, is directing Giving Tuesday donations to its “Make Waves” campaign, headed by honorary Chairman Tom Bergeron. Bergeron, who began his career at WHAV in 1972, is host of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
In letters being mailed this week to donors, WHAV President and General Manager Tim Coco reveals the drive to place a new local radio station on the air “almost didn’t happen.”
“Now it can be told, an early legal challenge from one of four applicants for the federal license nearly derailed the effort. Then, for a time, it appeared an alternate tower site would have to be built literally from the ground up with a mammoth and likely impossible price tag. Even the original WHAV call letters, used by the radio station since 1947 and the Haverhill Police Department before that, had been taken away by the U.S. Coast Guard and assigned to an oil barge. Engineering, permitting and legal costs—far above industry averages and expectations—were staggering and, frankly, scary for a relatively new nonprofit organization,” Coco writes.
Donations to Emmaus may be made online at www.emmausinc.org. Checks may be mailed to Emmaus, Inc., P.O. Box 568, Haverhill, MA 01831. The organization asks donors to write “Giving Tuesday” in the memo line and date check Nov. 29.
Donations to Boys and Girls Club of Greater Haverhill may be made at http://haverhillbgc.org/make-a-donation/
Those wishing to help WHAV pay off expenses associated with placing the new FM on the air may donate online at https://www.gofundme.com/mjp130. Checks may also be made out to WHAV and mailed to WHAV, 189 Ward Hill Ave., Haverhill, MA 01835.