5 Petaluma Nonprofits To Support This Holiday Season

PETALUMA, CA — If you’re like many of your Petaluma neighbors, you may spend a good part of the holiday season with your credit card in hand buying gifts for family and friends. Coming up soon is a chance to give back to the local community.

Giving Tuesday, which in 2024 falls on Dec. 3, is dedicated to supporting nonprofit and community groups. Since 2012, nonprofits worldwide have used the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to galvanize fundraising, rally volunteers and add momentum to their causes.

Maintaining funding is a constant challenge for many nonprofits that fill gaps and meet other needs in the Petaluma area.

Here are five local nonprofits to consider getting behind on Giving Tuesday:

1. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa: This organization serves the people of Sonoma and Napa counties in the areas of housing and shelter services, immigration legal services, senior programs, health and wellness and disaster recovery.

2. Petaluma River Park: Donations will help bring the local community together around something undeniably positive: a park for all.

3. Petaluma Education Foundation: Make a general donation to support Petaluma's 38 schools or give the gift of a scholarship or grant fund.

4. Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue: This organization receives no government funding and relies on supporter contributions to fund its mission. Give to a specific rescue animal, make a general donation or support the final phases of the Apex Predator Enclosure for animals such as bears and mountain lions.

5. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area: When you donate online to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area, which merged with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay in 2017, you are directly supporting children in your community.

More Ways To Give

Scores of local organizations, in addition to those listed above, likely need financial gifts or something even more precious: your time. See Volunteermatch.org for more ways to make a difference, not just on #GivingTuesday but throughout the year.