HELENA — Starting Thursday evening, people around Helena will be giving local nonprofits a helping hand through the annual Greater Helena Gives campaign.
The Helena Area Community Foundation is starting the event at 6 p.m. Thursday. Using their online donation site, greaterhelenagives.org, you can contribute to any of 89 participating nonprofits – or to the “GHG Community Fund,” which will be shared with all the organizations.
“No matter what you care about, there’s going to be something on our list that meets those needs,” said Emily Frazier, the foundation’s executive director.
Frazier said they’re hoping to break 1,000 individual donors this year. Last year, 886 people took part.
“Somebody who comes in and gives $5 to one organization versus somebody who gives a great deal higher – those are really equally appreciated in the eyes of our nonprofits,” said Frazier. “It’s not just about giving money, it’s also about learning about the vastness of our nonprofit community, the great things that we do in the Helena area.”
Last year, Greater Helena Gives raised a record amount: just under $159,710 for 74 organizations. Frazier said they’re grateful that people were so generous in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that the needs haven’t gone away this year for many nonprofits.
“This year, people are kind of getting sick of being in a pandemic, and the federal and state money is not as available for most nonprofits,” she said. “So I’m actually very hopeful that our community will come through and support the nonprofit community as much as they did in previous years – because, frankly, the need may be greater for some nonprofits.”
The main Greater Helena Gives campaign lasts 24 hours, through 6 p.m. Friday, but the website will remain open several more days for people to contribute.
