#GuelphGives: How have you given back during the COVID-19 pandemic?

While it’s been a year like no other thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, a campaign in Guelph wants to hear stories of how the community has given back to local charities and businesses.

GuelphGives is part of the larger Giving Tuesday movement — a day of charitable giving that follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday during the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend.

The idea behind GuelphGives is to celebrate how the community has given back during the year and encourage people to keep on giving through the holidays.

The city has seen small businesses shut down and charities struggle to keep their efforts going. Throughout the pandemic, the message has been to support local.

“The generosity many charities and local businesses have seen the past eight months is truly inspiring and we want to use the GuelphGives platform to share these stories,” chair of the GuelphGives committee Emma Rogers said.

Usually Giving Tuesday, which is on Dec. 1 this year, is marked with a big breakfast in Guelph featuring all of the city’s leaders, but that won’t happen this year due to the coronavirus.

So like many other events, GuelphGives is going online.

Residents are being encouraged to share their story on how they support local businesses or not-for-profits on social media. Tag @GuelphGives and use hashtags #GuelphGives and #GuelphShops.

Anyone who participates will be entered to win one of five $100 gift cards for a local business or one of two $250 donations to a local not-for-profit of their choice.

To mark Giving Tuesday on Dec. 1, residents are being encouraged to donate to a cause in Guelph that addresses a local issue, visit or purchase a gift card from a local business, volunteer or even just learn about Guelph’s local issues and spread awareness.

More information can be found on GuelphGives’ website.