Rock Hill gives back on Giving Tuesday

You got up early to shop on Black Friday and searched for online deals on Cyber Monday. Now local nonprofits are asking you to spend some money and time on the less fortunate this Giving Tuesday.

Thirty-seven local nonprofits, along with businesses, generous individuals and the city of Rock Hill have joined forces for #RockHillGives, an effort to encourage people to give back what they can in the midst of a hectic holiday season.

Giving Tuesday, organized on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving to coincide with the other days that kick off the holidays, falls this year on Dec. 1, and charities are organizing ways for citizens to get involved this Tuesday.

“Our job is to encourage people to refocus their efforts from Black Friday to supporting others,” said Jennifer Graham, marketing director at Hospice & Community Care of Rock Hill who serves as one of the organizers of the Rock Hill Gives effort.

This is the first time Rock Hill nonprofits have had an organized Giving Tuesday effort, which first launched as a nationwide charitable effort in 2012.

The organized effort quickly grew from six nonprofits that began discussing the idea in September, and even on the Monday before the event, Graham said she still had groups calling to sign up.

Anyone wanting to give can check out the website rockhillgives.org, and find the charity of your choice and its donation options listed under “How to Help.”

The hashtag #RockHillGives is also a way to get involved on social media. Participants can use the hashtag in their social media posts or tag themselves in an “unselfie” – a photo of someone holding an official Rock Hill Gives sign highlighting how they plan to give back this year, using the hashtags #RockHillGives, #unselfie or #GivingTuesday.

“We give a lot of the time because of our social connections,” Graham said. “There are some groups we partner with who have little or no social media presence, so if someone on your network sees you donated to the Pilgrims’ Inn, they might want to learn more about them.”

Rock Hill Gives has unselfie signs on their website, but any piece of paper that says who you gave to and why will work. The photos will be shared on the Rock Hill Gives page on Facebook, or on the Twitter account @RockHillGives.

While charitable groups use this time of year to attract more contributions, the teachers at Richmond Drive Elementary School in Rock Hill are using the day as a chance to teach their young students how they can give back to others.

“With five- and six-year-olds, we want them to know giving is not about gifts or money, it has to do with how you treat others,” said Lisa H. Smith, a Richmond Drive kindergarten teacher.

Smith’s class will spend Giving Tuesday writing encouraging notes they plan to slip into books in the school library and the Little Free Library out front. Among the students’ suggestions were, “Have a great day,” “Smile” and “You can finish this book.”

Other kindergartners will be handing out homemade ornaments to Richmond Drive teachers and staff they made out of cookie dough and cinnamon and cut into the shape of stars. The first-grade class plans to leave campus later this month to hand out gift baskets to residents at the Westminster Towers retirement community.

Principal Pat Maness asked each class at Richmond Drive to come up with some way to mark the day.

“We know kids will believe and do what they see the big people around them believe and do,” Maness said. “For us, this is another opportunity to be globally minded and other-minded, whether it’s someone beside you or on the other side of the world.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Rock Hill gives back on Giving Tuesday."