GIVE LOCAL 757 |
Every year, businesses, citizens, media outlets, and leaders from the entire region rally to engage our community in the Hampton Roads' annual giving day in support of local causes. PCF is immensely grateful because these are the organizations providing critical services to those most in need as well as those supporting the arts, education and leisure.
The Give Local 757 Initiative is a program created by the Peninsula Community Foundation to spark and grow local philanthropy. Since its inception, the giving day has generated over $7.1 million to sustain and grow hundreds of local nonprofits! |
Just as important as the funds raised are the collaborative, capacity-building, and training opportunities offered to participating nonprofits leading up to the Giving Day. The program deepens their engagements with donors, strengthen their sustainability and thereby their impact in the community.
No matter how small the donation, we collectively are changing lives and impacting thousands of individuals and families who live in Hampton Roads. Here are just a few stories giving you a window into the difference we are making together:
AMY's STORY |
CURTIS' STORY |
A HAPPY ENDING for A HUMAN TRAFFICING victim
Every family needs a caring community. ECHO FAMILY CARE recently had the honor of serving a trafficking survivor who was pregnant and all alone. Her caseworker was concerned that without support she'd lose her child to the foster care system. They initially were able to meet her practical needs which helped her to welcome her baby into her home. They were honored to provide her with a caring community. This community of individuals and families became like family, loving her and her child, and investing in their success. They continue to provide practical things like babysitting so she can train for a better job, or help with moving into her own place, or picking her up to take her to church, to dinner, and on outings. Her care community welcomed her and her little one into their homes and into their families. Now when she has a need, she doesn't call the nonprofit organization, but instead calls her people. When ECHO talks about family strengthening and stabilization this is what it looks like: a community she can depend on.
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A MOM'S SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY TO AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE
After three failed pregnancies, Gemma's mom gave up hope on having a child. When she had her daughter Gemma at age 38, she considered it a blessing. Gemma's mom, a college graduate working a full-time job, faced several barriers when seeking childcare for her daughter, especially an affordable one. Lack of quality options led Gemma to attend five childcare centers by the age of four, including centers with tuition higher than the family's rent payments, unexpected closings, and inadequate approaches to healthy child development. After waiting patiently for a spot to become available, the family received a call from PEAKE CHILDHOOD CENTER to start a new journey. Peake CC checked every box Gemma's mom wished for from childcare centers and more, including sliding-scale tuition, reliable hours, additional resources, a nurturing environment, and a sense of community.
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Art heals, Art connects, Art is the life blood of the community
ZEIDERS AMERICAN DREAM THEATER (The Z) believes that access to the arts is essential for the growth of a community and that creativity is a basic human drive. The Z Ticket Bank connects under-resourced community members with the arts, providing equitable access to every neighbor in Hampton Roads. This past year The Z has gifted more than 150 tickets to children in the Virginia Beach Public School System, inspiring a new generation of artists and arts lovers. One student, excitedly held her ticket clutched in her lap throughout the performance, visibly bouncing with excitement, the look on her face as the lights fell was mesmerizing. The magic of the stage is a gift that every child deserves, and The Z Ticket Bank is making a promise to provide access to the arts for everyone in Hampton Roads.
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