The Arlington community is coming together to stand behind the city's nonprofit sector on Thursday, Sept. 18, as part of North Texas Giving Day.
"We want to celebrate the Arlington nonprofit community and show them we appreciate the things they do day in and day out for our city," said Carolyn Mentesana, executive of the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation.
Plus, civic leaders want to inspire residents to donate to the groups that help make Arlington the American Dream City. Arlington would fail to be the family-friendly place it is today without the volunteers, staff and supporters of Arlington's nonprofit organizations.
"The nonprofit sector is responsible for making sure our community is a richer, stronger community," Mentesana said."They're responsible collectively for helping care for our children and family, beautifying the city, and preserving the environment and animals of Arlington - all of which is available to us daily."
North Texas Giving Day, now in its sixth year, makes it easy for residents to donate to their favorite charities and provides nonprofits with an additional fundraising and awareness tool.
Supporters are asked to donate funds through northtexasgivingday.org between 6 a.m. and midnight on Sept. 18.
In addition to the donations from supporters, the groups behind North Texas Giving Day have raised bonus funds that allow them to give out extra prizes to nonprofits throughout the day for things like most unique donors and largest increase in donors, helping supporters' dollars go further.
To directly support the City's 66 nonprofits taking part in North Texas Giving Day, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, along with Women Inspiring Philanthropy, Downtown Arlington Management Corp., and the City, worked together with Friends of the Levitt Pavilion to create a rally honoring Arlington nonprofits. Charity staff, volunteers and donors are invited to attend. The rally starts promptly at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 18 in Downtown Arlington at the Levitt Pavilion.
To kick off the day, the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation will award a $10,000 grant to a charity participating in Giving Day that is at the rally, and Women Inspiring Philanthropy will announce the recipient of its second $50,000 grant. Additionally the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation will be awarding four $5,000 grants to the City's nonprofits that have the most unique donors through the Giving Day website during four different time periods: 6 a.m. to noon, noon to 2 p.m., 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 6 p.m. to midnight.
So what can residents do to show their support? It's simple, on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, go online to northtexasgivingday.org between 6 a.m. and midnight and donate to your favorite Arlington charities. Then, encourage others to donate on social media using the hashtags #AmericanDreamCity and #NTXGivingDay.
"We are here to support the City and the vital and important work of the local chartable sector," Mentesana said. "This is just another example of how we are making Arlington a better place to call home."
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