Big Day of Giving has Yolo residents in the spirit of giving
Since 2013, the Yolo Food Bank, along with other organizations all over Yolo County, has participated in the Big Day of Giving, an annual charity event in May dedicated to challenging communities to help raise funds and grow local philanthropy. This year’s Big Day of Giving took place on May 3, and local organizations and nonprofits all over Yolo County managed to raise over $7.3 million to go toward their respective missions and charities. Through the Big Day of Giving, donors are able to learn about nonprofits and their goals and support their causes by giving and encouraging others to give.
“Our community once again demonstrated its generosity and commitment to supporting the organizations that make such a difference to us all,” said Linda Beech Cutler, the chief executive of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, the charity that established the Big Day of Giving five years ago. “We are immensely grateful for the good work these nonprofits do every day and for the donors who gave during this year’s Big Day of Giving.”
The Yolo Food Bank’s mission is to end hunger and malnutrition in Yolo County. According to its website, 52,000 people in Yolo County regularly go hungry each month and nearly 17 percent of the county is affected by food insecurity. The Yolo Food Bank funds programs such as food drives, hubs, low-cost markets and distribution that combat hunger and help feed those in need in and around Yolo County. The Bank is located in Woodland but also reaches heavily into Davis, Sacramento and Elk Grove.
“Our overall total went over $64,000 for the day, which made us the second-highest grossing charity in Yolo County for the day,” said Joy Cohan, the director of philanthropic engagement at the Yolo Food Bank. “We outdid our goal for this year quite a bit, and we were really excited by the number of donors we got involved […] We really tried to focus on e-philanthropy this year, focusing on social media and email marketing with our donor database to try and further spread the word, particularly about these matching donations.”
Supported by several regular donors and philanthropists, this year the Yolo Food Bank was able to start an initiative that had donors matching and doubling each others’ donations. Davis mayor Robb Davis and several other donors pledged to double their gifts if their original contribution of $6,250 was matched by benefactors from all around Yolo County. Media coverage surrounding this pledge and social media sharing of the Yolo Food Bank’s goal made this the most successful Big Day of Giving yet for the nonprofit.
“The day went great. I mean, we almost doubled our number from last year, mostly because Yolo Food Bank is getting more exposure via social media and tabling at different events,” said Raymond Bautista, the volunteer and food drive coordinator at the Yolo Food Bank. “In the next couple months, we have several ways to get involved — our food distributions and food hubs, our kids’ farmers market at different elementary schools all over Yolo County. We have produce packing, rice and beans packing. Anything you can think of that would be in running a regular business, we could use volunteers for.”
Though the Big Day of Giving is over until May of next year, the Yolo Food Bank will continue its work feeding and serving the thousands of Yolo County residents in need of food and care. Those interested in learning more about the Yolo Food Bank can visit its website, and those looking to give to the organization can make donations online.
Written by: Ahash Francis — city@theaggie.org
