Trust develops among neighbors. In the countless little acts of courtesy, friendship and mutual assistance over time, neighbors learn that there is help available if they need it, right where they live. In Elgin, your neighbors are 110,000 people who have always been there to lend a hand.
Elgin’s big heart is documented by Mike Bailey in one chapter of 300 Lake St: The Story of Elgin and its Newspaper. He wrote, “The generosity of Daily Courier News readers to causes we publicized never ceased to amaze us.”
In a recent interview with Jeff Myers of Elgin Today, Christine Mitchell of Open Door Health Center reported that Elgin givers donated nearly $450,000 in one day in 2016. That was Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, and Elgin outgave every other city in the state except Chicago. On a per capita basis, we surely gave the most.
In the coming months you’ll get charity appeals in your mailbox and your inbox, and find donation baskets and buckets everywhere people gather. As Elginites, you’ll want to give something. While there are many causes worthy of your support, the dollars you entrust to the nonprofits in your own city will do more to build community here.
Because there is poverty, pain and unmet need within five miles of your home, and your dollars combined with the efforts of staff and volunteers are an act of love toward your neighbors. There are victims of illness, cruelty, and family dysfunction living among you, and your dollars repair the social fabric that surrounds and protects you, of which you are a part.
Supporting youth and senior programs, animal welfare and the environment are investments in your own quality of life for long as you live here, and gifts to the arts reflect your commitment to the shared values that unite the diverse families and individuals that call Elgin home.
I started a local magazine to try to recreate a “sense of place” in Elgin, and the team members of Elgin Gives share that desire to build and strengthen community here. Elgin Gives provides a platform for local non-profits to offer you meaningful options for your charitable contributions on Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2017.
These groups are your neighbors, and your donations demonstrate your trust in them. Get online to privately support one or more of these Elgin organizations, according to your conscience, and know that by doing so, you are giving a gift to an entire city.
About Jeffrey Pierce
Jeffrey Pierce is the Editor and Publisher of BRAVO Magazine, a free monthly devoted to local culture, available in over 70 public and retail locations in and around Elgin.