I have a variety of causes I am accustomed to donating to, and I considered each of them in thinking about my story. My wonderful alma mater, Mount Holyoke; the Food Bank of NYC; Planned Parenthood; Best Friends Animal Society; several others. They all have missions I believe in deeply and am proud to support.
But I'm also in a unique and lucky position as someone who works on the team that runs #GivingTuesday, the global movement around giving, created at the 92nd Street Y in 2012. This will be the 5th #GivingTuesday, so for five years, I've had the privilege of learning about the amazing work of literally tens of thousands of nonprofits. Their creativity and inspiration has been absolutely inspiring. Their work, their sense of passion and purpose, and their ability to mobilize that same passion and purpose in givers, has convinced me that the nonprofit world is entering a new era of innovation and collaboration. And so I decided this year to write about just one of those organizations.
Thread, in Baltimore, engages underperforming high school students, fundamentally re-imagining their support structure, providing each with a "family" of volunteers (how cool is that?) and increased access to community resources. They're about creating a broader, more inclusive social fabric. I think that's a great mission. It's a mission that we share at the 92nd Street Y. Even better, their #GivingTuesday campaign expands on their mission even more meaningfully. It's about creating connections citywide--not just among the students they service and the volunteers, but all citizens of Baltimore. Small groups of people will disperse all over the city to do things like write love notes to Baltimore, organize a park clean-up, share a meal with strangers, or have a Kind Words-a-Thon (getting together and calling or texting 10 friends or family members each to tell them what they mean to you). How beautiful and necessary these small actions are, especially in this moment. How lovely it is that Thread is using #GivingTuesday as a reminder of the small but profound difference we can make in the lives of both loved ones and strangers every day.
I don't live in Baltimore, never have, likely never will. It's not my literal community, but it's my human community, and this organization has helped remind me how important that is. I'm grateful that #GivingTuesday has exposed me to so many organizations like Thread doing amazing work. Thanks, Thread. I think you are so cool. I wish you great success and many connections.
Review from #MyGivingStory