Giving Tuesday Is Here! Wait What Is That Again?
Tis the season. The season of good cheer. The season of hot cocoa and crackling fireplaces. The season of giving. Though holiday and year-end giving has already started, many feel the season all kicks off with Giving Tuesday, which occurs the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, annually.
The Giving Tuesday movement began in 2012, as an idea that right after Thanksgiving and right before the end of the year is a perfect time to focus the nation on radical generosity. Last year, more than a decade after it’s conception, 34 million Americans participated, giving a total of $3.1 billion to charity on the single day event. Skagit Habitat for Humanity’s own 2025 Giving Tuesday campaign has started and will go through December 3rd with emails and social media posts being sent out and donors already being celebrated.
But it doesn’t stop there. December happens to be a popular time to give both because of the season of charity and good will, and because Americans are getting ready for tax season. The tax-deduction that donations to 501(c)3 organizations incentivizes giving to a cause you care deeply about rather than having it all go to Uncle Sam.
How Does Skagit County Giving Compare?
Home Dedication Ceremony in Mount Vernon
Americans give more to charity in December than in any other month. In fact, 30 cents of every dollar given in the US occurs in December. However, last year in Skagit County we raised about 20% of our individual giving in December. That means, either Skagit County doesn’t get in the giving spirit like the rest of the country during the holidays, or we aren’t asking for support the way we should be. I’d bet it’s the latter, and I hope this year we figure that out, because the things we are doing together in this community are making an incredible impact and we can’t do it without you.
Local Giving, Local Impact
As Skagit Habitat for Humanity leadership has set more ambitious goals, you, the people of Skagit County have stepped up with us to answer the call along the way. Now we’re looking to take a big leap forward and we need your help.
In 2024, we stepped up our game. After averaging 1.5 affordable homes/year for 30 years we pumped the gas and moved 4 hardworking Skagit families into homes in Mount Vernon. This coming year, we’re nearly tripling our impact again. We will build 11 permanently affordable homes across Anacortes and La Conner alongside Skagit families and neighbors.
The only way we’re able to do this is through the people of Skagit County. It takes us all to affect the affordable housing crisis. It takes us all to build homes, community, and hope.
Meet the La Conner Homebuyers
In the small, charming town of La Conner, 3 new homebuyer families recently celebrated their groundbreaking ceremony. Their neighbors and local politicians came out in great numbers to welcome them. In a moving moment, each family volunteered to stand before the crowd and say a few words.
Steffanie and Steven noted that they had been working hard to reset their lives so that their young daughter can have a real chance to thrive. Tarra thanked the crowd as one of her teenage daughters shared a heartfelt message about not needing to burden their family members for a place to stay and finally having the stability of a home that is their own. Rocio shared how special it is for her to bring her family home to La Conner, where she grew up, and where her kids go to school, and that for the first time, her son won’t have to share a room with her in this new home.
This is just a glimpse of what it means to support affordable home ownership in your local community. It changes lives, and over time it changes the whole community for the better. Kids do better in school. Families can afford to spend more in their local economy. The homes built add supply to the market that softens rental demand while adding property taxes for local government services.
Donate Now and Be Part of This!
Be part of the season of giving. No donation is too small. People who donate in these last several weeks of 2024 are giving the gift of home to our homebuyers like Steffanie, Rocio, and Tarra and their families. A donation will also help 8 more local homebuyers to build and buy homes in Anacortes in 2025. With the support of this community, we will continue to work towards a goal of building 15 affordable homes a year by 2027. Individual donations from people like you are helping lay the foundation for these hard-working local families with a chance to make an impact for generations to come. Go to our website now to donate and be a part of this with us this holiday season.
This Giving Tree shows a representation of what your donation means for our upcoming builds.
