Giving Tuesday an important day for charities across Ottawa

The day after Cyber Monday is a day for millions around the world to give to their favourite charities. It’s called “Giving Tuesday” and the charities that benefit from it say they need it now more than ever.

“We're thrilled to be participating in Giving Tuesday. It's giving us a chance to raise really essential funds for the animals,” says Sharon Miko, Ottawa Humane Society President and CEO. “Just today, we’ve got 17 surgeries that are taking place, and we've got over 400 animals in our care right now including over 100 in foster homes.”

Giving Tuesday started in 2012. The idea is to donate savings from Black Friday and Cyber Monday to a good cause.

This year at the Ottawa Humane Society, an anonymous donor has pledged to match all donations made to the animals up until the end of the day.

“It's an honor to be here you know, every day to be able to help Ottawa’s animals in need,” says Dr. Shelley Hutchings, Chief Veterinarian. “And we couldn't do it without the support of our donors.”

“We’ve done Giving Tuesday a few times now for the past few years. And we always find that people are always very generous around this time of year,” says Stephen Smith, Ottawa Humane Society Manager of Communications.

The timing of Giving Tuesday is critical for the Ottawa Food Bank. With high inflation, the number of people using the food bank has increased by almost 40 per cent.

“This is probably the fifth year that we've done Giving Tuesday and we've seen it grow every year,” says Rachael Wilson, Ottawa Food Bank CEO. “This year, we have a match from Sobeys of up to $15,000, encouraging people to give online. And what we're really trying to do is fill a fridge for a family of four for one day. We're trying to fill about 2,000 fridges.”

Giving Tuesday is one of the most important days of the year at the Ottawa Mission. Donations to The Mission will be matched by Dymon Storage, up to $25,000 dollars.

“When this first started to take off seven or eight years ago for charities, there was this feeling of, will people get it, will people get on board? And people get it,” says Peter Tilley, Ottawa Mission CEO. “We're going to need to clothe and house people into those cold winter months of January and February. So it's great that people have figured that out, and donors are coming on board to make a difference on the last Tuesday of November.”

The need is everywhere. A recent IPSOS poll indicated 22 per cent of Canadians plan to turn to charities for help n the next six months.