Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, and Tuesday is Giving Tuesday.

If you have money left over from a weekend of deals, Giving Tuesday is a chance to give back to local nonprofits or charities of your choice.

“The impact that the nonprofit community has made on the Rhode Island community as a whole has been unbelievable over the past few years,” said President and CEO of Mentor Rhode Island Jo-Ann Schofield.

For local places like One Neighborhood Builders, donations allow them to continue addressing the need for safe and affordable communities across the greater Providence area at a time when it’s needed most.

“Only through really deep investments and continuing to build a stock of affordable housing and then connecting our most vulnerable residents and neighbors can we start to chip away at this really deep challenge,” said Grace Evans, chief of staff at One Neighborhood Builders.

At Operation Stand Down Rhode Island in Johnston, donations pay the salaries of all the veterans they employ and help veterans across the state.

“Donations go 100% to the veterans and the clients we serve. Some of those situations their families, they give us a good opportunity to cover the gaps in the services that we provide,” said Tyrone Smith, Director of Employment, Housing at Operation Stand Down Rhode Island.

While donations and volunteers keep places like Mentor Rhode Island afloat throughout the year, they spend today doing something a little different.

“Whether it’s a donor or a mentor or any stakeholder that really has invested time and energy into our organization we just reach out and say thank you. We know that a lot of people are asking stuff of you today. We are not asking anything of you other than to say we really appreciate you,” Schofield said

However you decide to spend Giving Tuesday, it doesn’t take much to support the organizations that might need it most.

“Sometimes you get one or two cups of coffee in a day. We ask that maybe you reconsider the second cup of coffee and donate it to organizations like us, Operation Stand Down or other nonprofits in the community,” Smith said.

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