Tuesday, December 3, is Giving Tuesday, the biggest day of giving in the world.
How are you planning to give?
There are hundreds of non-profit organizations to choose from in Central Brooklyn alone. Pick your favorite, and give-- if only $20. If you're unsure of who to choose from, we've provided a list of ten that have reached out to BK Reader and could surely use your help.
Also, Brooklyn Community Foundation has provided a list of more than 100 local nonprofits around Brooklyn that need your support. And with BCF's #BrooklynGives campaign, from midnight until 11:59PM on Giving Tuesday, December 3rd, they're matching donations dollar for dollar up to $5,000 to the 20 finalists for their Spark Prize!
Join the world's largest celebration of giving and spread love the Brooklyn way!
1. The Billie Holiday Theatre
2. The Center for Black Literature
- Founded in 2002, the Center for Black Literature (CBL) has been providing groundbreaking literary programs for 17 years...and most of our events are FREE for all ages. We count on your financial support to keep our events free or low-cost.
- For years now, Dr. Brenda M. Greene has been interviewing some of the most revered Black writers and public figures of our day. The weekly radio show, Writers on Writing, airs every Sunday at 7pm on WMEC Radio. Again, another invaluable free resource for lovers and supporters of Black literature.
- The John Oliver Killens Reading Series is another free event that occurs monthly. It exists to give authors and poets an opportunity to discuss their works and their craft in depth...all in front of an engaging and curious live audience.
- CBL is gearing up for another installment of the Wild Seeds Writers Retreat this February (locally in Brooklyn). LOL! This is a repeat from the last email blast but we thought it was worth repeating! Details Soon Come for February 2020!
- The 15th National Black Writers Conference is coming to Brooklyn, March 26 - 29, 2020 (#NBWC2020)! While many of the NBWC events are ticketed programs, some of the events are free and open to all. Your financial support TODAY will help us fill in the gaps for funds that we've not yet secured from grantmakers. Donations, small or big, truly help us provide free events year 'round for the community of Black writers, readers, and creatives that we hold so dear.
3. The Love Yourself Project
4. Noel Pointer Foundation
5. Haiti Cultural Exchange
6. Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Brooklyn Youth Chorus is a Grammy Award-winning collective of young voices led by visionary Founder & Artistic Director Dianne Berkun Menaker. "A polished ensemble of miniature professionals" (The New York Times), the versatile Chorus fluently delivers world-class performances on stage and in the studio.
The Chorus has collaborated with an impressive range of organizations and artists, this season alone with the New York Philharmonic, The National, Wye Oak, Shara Nova, International Contemporary Ensemble, and William Brittelle, and in previous seasons with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Barbra Streisand, Arcade Fire, Sir Elton John, and Grizzly Bear.
To donate to BYC, go here.
7. The Brooklyn Historical Society
Brooklyn Historical Society serves nearly 400,000 visitors a year — including community members, tourists, and virtual visitors from around the world. At the heart of what BHS offers the public are our collections — books, photographs, maps, artifacts, and more — that tell the stories of countless Brooklynites and the rich history of our Borough.
Their collections bring Brooklyn's history to life through exhibitions (like Waterfront at BHS DUMBO and Taking Care of Brooklyn: Stories of Sickness and Health at our Pierrepont Street location), access to archival materials in the Othmer Library, and listening to our extensive Oral History Collection online. Please support BHS's ability to make history yours, through access to their collections - the heart of BHS.
To donate to BHS, go here.
8. Grow Brooklyn
Grow Brooklyn's mission is to build and preserve economic assets. We offer professional services including tax preparation, housing counseling, and direct legal services to the overwhelmingly low-income and minority neighborhoods of Central Brooklyn, including Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, Crown Heights, and Brownsville.
Grow Brooklyn serves 8,000+ households, benefitting over 30,000 individuals, annually with
- Free Tax Preparation
- Free Financial Counseling including Pre-Purchase workshops
- Free Housing Counseling
- Legal Services
Grow Brooklyn understands that systemic inequity is perpetuated through blocking off the pathways that lead to good solutions. In response, GB creates access. GB's services center equity by ensuring that marginalized communities can access their rights and privileges.
Grow Brooklyn is a Finalist for the 2019-20 Spark Prize with a matching grant of up to $5,000 towards funds raised through #BrooklynGives on Giving Tuesday.
To give to GB, go here.
9. City Harvest
Today, more than 1.2 million New Yorkers, including one in five children, struggle to put meals on their tables.
This year, City Harvest will collect 61 million pounds of excess food this year and deliver it free of charge to hundreds of soup kitchens, food pantries and other community food programs across the five boroughs. By redirecting this nutritious food from supermarkets, manufacturers, farmers markets, and restaurants to our neighbors in need, we can support our local communities and reduce the environmental impact of food that would otherwise go to waste.
Please help make sure that good food doesn't go to waste when so many people are hungry by donating to this campaign. Together, we can make a difference one day, one meal, and one person at a time.
Every $1 donated helps City Harvest rescue and deliver four pounds of good food. By donating, you'll help keep City Harvest's trucks on the road and filled with nutritious food for our neighbors in need.
To donate to City Harvest, go here.
10. KAVI(Kings Against Violence Initiative)
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE OUR GREATEST HOPE: KAVI's work is grounded in the belief that young people are our greatest hope for a more just and peaceful world. When we partner with our communities to invest in our youth, KAVI understands their challenges and can work to change the course of historical inequities, tackling critical social issues such as different forms of violence. Only when ALL youth are treated with compassion and given opportunities to thrive, can we ensure that all communities are vibrant and successful.
A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO ENDING VIOLENCE: Violence is an endemic public health issue, particularly in low-income and communities of color. Communities of color in Central Brooklyn are plagued by violence, poverty and crime at an alarming rate. Gun violence, as just one example of violence, is the leading cause of death amongst 15-24 year-olds.
However, Central Brooklyn is not unique; there are communities around the country experiencing loss and neglect of young people due to violence. Violence not only takes on many different forms, but from a public health perspective, many different factors contribute to violence, including lack of access to a quality and supportive education, poor mental health and growing up in neighborhoods with limited resources and services.
KAVI was a Spark Prize Winner in 2018. This year, they have a goal of raising $100,000.
To give to KAVI, go here.
