So, what exactly is Giving Tuesday? - As many people know, not-for-profits such as AACF rely solely on donations and government grants in order to provide services to program participants. We do not charge our clients for services. Our ability to serve our youth program participants depends solely on the kindness of generous donors. Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday) is a fairly recent notion, the brainchild of Henry Timms of the 92nd Street Y in New York City, begun in 2012 as a nudge to Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers to consider giving to charity as well. Giving Tuesday takes place on the first Tuesday following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year Giving Tuesday will take place on November 30, 2021.
Giving Tuesday was co-founded by the United Nations Foundation and has received support from the Ford Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, among other powerful charitable organizations. Since its inception there has been an incredible rise in charitable giving across the world beginning with $28 million recorded from various platforms in the year 2013 and recorded as $2.47 billion in December of 2020.
In 2020 an additional Giving Tuesday was created for Tuesday, May 5, 2020: Giving Tuesday Now to address the widespread need throughout the world created by the COVID-19 global pandemic. There is even a movement created and led by young people called #GivingTuesdaySpark whose goal it is to build leaders from the ages of 8 to 22 to spread the culture of giving worldwide. The power of generosity exists across generations and now more than ever is the time to give.
Without the generous support from private donors and government grant funding we would not be able to provide services to our youth clientele. We are incredibly grateful for generous contributions from the W.P. & H.P. White Foundation and from the Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation, the United Way of Metro Chicago, the Chicago Community Trust, the Dr. Scholl Foundation, private funders, and from our partners Cisco and Microsoft Corporation. Their generous support enables AACF to achieve positive impact in the communities we serve and provide our participants the skills to traverse the journey toward self-sufficiency.
Over the past year 92% of AACF expenditures have funded our youth development programs with $408,979 out of $473,166 total revenue and support funding program services. We have provided $362,089 in grants and wages to youth interns and provided 1082 supportive services to low income youth, supporting 56 working single mothers, and currently have 240 participants actively engaged with a case manager to achieve their career goals. We serve low income youth ages 16-24 from Chicago’s West and South Side and from Suburban Cook County. During the past year we have placed 44 youth in jobs with post-program earnings averaging $29,940. Because of generous donors like you we are able to provide education, paid job training, job placements, paid internships, and financial support for success to low income youth experiencing barriers to employment such as poverty, homelessness, disengagement from education, and returning citizens. Our support for success include Baffua House, an eight bed transitional living program for young people. We partner with strong organizations such as CTA’s Second Chance Program and Progressive Truck Driving School enabling youth with barriers to employment to gain economic freedom from the cycle of poverty and low income.
Consider being a part of the #GivingTuesday movement and giving a contribution that will help support our low income youth community members to rise above the cycle of poverty.