24 hours of fundraising, vital for local nonprofits

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3 days ago

LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Get ready to give back! NEPA Gives, the region's largest 24-hour online fundraising event, kicks off Thursday night.
28/22 News Reporter Kathryn O'Leary shows us how it all works and why this event is making a big difference across our community.
If you've ever wanted to give back to the community but didn't know where to start, the NEPA Gives event is the time to do it.
It's a 24-hour online giving event starting Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., and it's shaping up to be bigger than ever.
Whether it's mental health, education, animal shelters, or the arts, NEPA Gives brings more than 250 local nonprofits into one place for one purpose: giving back.
'This is our sixth year, so in a five-year time span, we've raised over $4,000,000, which is amazing. So this is really great money that goes right back into the community, stays local, and helps a lot of these nonprofits do the great work that they're doing,' Brittany Pagnotti, Director of Donor Relations and Communications, Scranton Area Community Foundation, explained.
For donors, it's easy; Just head to NEPA Gives, browse by cause or organization, and your donation gets a boost thanks to matching dollars and bonus prizes from community sponsors.
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'It's great to have an event like this, because, first of all, being a part of the community is number one, and it helps us not only raise additional funds for our organization, but it helps us reach a broader audience and get the organization in front of new donors as well,' stated Art Levandowski, Coordinator of Marketing and Development, Jewish Family Service.
Jewish Family Service is one of dozens of organizations hoping to benefit. They say this event is a vital funding source.
'It's just another point of revenue, revenue source for the organization to allow us to do more work within the community with the extra funds that we get from an event like this. It's just a fun, exciting day for the organization, for our organization, and for our staff,' expressed Levandowski.
To close it all out, there's a block party Friday at 5:00 p.m. on Wyoming Avenue in downtown Scranton with food trucks, live music, and the nonprofits themselves.
'I'm just looking forward to all, the whole community, coming together. It's great energy to see everybody coming together to make a difference right here in northeastern Pennsylvania,' Pagnotti added.
So again, it all starts Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and runs until Friday at 7:00 p.m.
For 24 hours, it's your chance to give where you live.
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