News Channel 6 City Guide: Give to your favorite nonprofit for Texoma Gives 2021

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The News Channel 6 City Guide is a segment that shines a spotlight on local businesses, events, and nonprofits in your communities. In this episode, we’re taking a look at Texoma Gives. It’s an annual day of giving that helps support hundreds of nonprofits in our area. Early giving has begun but your dollars can make a huge impact for the causes you believe in on Thursday, September 9.

“The [Wichita Falls Area] Community Foundation is the host for Texoma Gives. This is our sixth annual event and each year has just been bigger and better. I’m thrilled that the community foundation can be a part of this very very important event for our nonprofits,” Leslie Schaffner, president of the Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation said.

Texoma Gives was an idea that was brought to the WFACF by a board member who had seen a day of giving in operation in another community. The board decided that would be a great idea for this area and got to planning. The very first Texoma Gives took place in 2016. It is an event that takes a village of volunteers to put on but those involved love the work.

“It’s fun. It’s exciting. The thing that makes it work is just everybody working together. I mean this thing has almost got to the point where it runs itself but there’s a lot of hard work that goes behind it. It’s not by people like me. It’s a lot of people that work on this year-round. But just to watch the gears grind on that is just incredible,” Dick Bundy, board chairman for Texoma Gives 2021 said. “One of the things I love about Texoma Gives is younger people are starting to understand more about philanthropy. You know, giving is really an important part of our lives.”

Anyone can support their nonprofit of choice with a minimum donation of just $10.

“I love the fact that the gifts make a difference. They really make a difference. Whether they’re a $10 gift or a $100 gift, it all goes to a collective effort that we all are a part of to make our communities stronger,” Schaffner said. “It’s our responsibility to take care of our community. Not just today but into the future as well.”

At TexomaGives.org, you can also see what kind of difference your dollars will make for each nonprofit organization. You can read each organization’s story and see what programs or purchases your donations will go towards.

“These organizations are doing so much with so little, oftentimes. You might go out to someone’s page and they may say, ‘$10 will do this or $25 will do this,’ for their organization. It gives donors a sense of, ‘yes, my donation went to do that,’ and there’s some satisfaction in that, I think, for some donors,” Schaffner said.

Early giving kicked off on August 27 but the big day of giving will begin at 6 a.m. on Thursday, September 9. The giving will continue until 10 p.m. You can find information on all of the participating nonprofits at TexomaGives.org. If you would like your business, event, or nonprofit featured on the News Channel 6 City Guide, contact us at CityGuide@KAUZ.com or (940) 757-0691.

Copyright 2021 KAUZ. All rights reserved.