5 Tucson Nonprofits That Need Your Giving Tuesday 2019 Donations

TUCSON, AZ — Right on the heels of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Giving Tuesday, tomorrow, Dec. 3. Giving Tuesday always falls on the first Tuesday of December since its inception in 2012, and givingtuesday.org describes it as a “global generosity movement” to help people and organizations “transform their communities and the world.” While we can help entities across the world by entering a URL and pushing a couple of keyboard buttons, we can also make a difference locally, right here in Tucson. Here are 5 Tucson area nonprofits asking the public to think about donating to them on Giving Tuesday 2019:

1. United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona hosts educational programs for families, youth, children and young adults. One of these is the Read On Tucson program that increases third-grade reading skills at 7 local school districts. United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona also offers the Quality First Redesign program to help give families with kids up to age 5 more access to high-quality educational programs. The organization also provides the Cradle to Career program to employ strageties for better educational results for young adults, youth and children, among other educational programs. Access their website here to donate.
2. Inside the Pima Air & Space Museum is the 390th Memorial Museum at 6000 E. Valencia Road in Tucson. The 390th Memorial Museum honors veterans on the ground and flying high in the B-17 during World War II in the Eighth Air Force’s 390th Bombardment Group. The museum educates the public about the sacrifices and service of the 390th Bomb Group. Community members are invited by the museum staff to help by becoming a museum ambassador, or to make a donation to help fund its services.
3. A Tucson Unified School District spokesperson has invited Tucson community members to contribute to the district’s “Together Every Kid Eats” program. The program’s goal is to ensure that every student is provided a nutritious meal. One hundred percent of all donated funds go toward the student meal accounts. The district provides about 5,000 of its 34,000 students with free meals, and donations can help offset those costs. A $40 donation pays for a month of lunches for an elementary student, whereas $50 could cover monthly lunch expenses for a high school or middle school student.
4. The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona has the goal to raise $100,000 to fight Tucson area hunger. Donations made to the food bank on Giving Tuesday will be matched up to $20,000, so your gift goes twice as far in providing healthy food to local families and children who face food insecurity and hunger. The food bank’s website says that 4 meals are provided with a donation of only $1.
5. For Giving Tuesday, the Gusto Osteria Italian restaurant at 7153 E. Tanque Verde Road in Tucson will be donating 15 percent of Dec. 3 gross sales to the Tucson Wildlife Center animal hospital. Customers should just tell their servers they want part of their bill donated to the Tucson Wildlife Center. Gusto Osteria also hosts a Giving Tuesday Celebration with the Tucson Wildlife Center Tuesday evening at the restaurant from 6 to 8 p.m. Or to make an online donation or to see the center’s wish list, go to the Tucson Wildlife Center’s website. Or find out how to become an animal caretaker here.