As we enter the holiday season and Giving Tuesday rapidly approaches, we want to share information about six nonprofits that are near and dear to our hearts. We encourage our team to support local nonprofits throughout the year, but we also recognize the importance of donating this time of year. Giving Tuesday provides many organizations the opportunity to double or triple donations, amplifying their impact! So, we asked our staff to share the organizations they’re interested in donating to this year and compiled a list. As a team, Darby Comm nominated two organizations from the list to donate to. Below, we’ve shared our list of wonderful organizations in hopes you’ll consider donating to them this Giving Tuesday.
My Daddy Taught Me That (MDTMT)
Founded by Kenyon Lake, MDTMT strives to foster the development of boys to become healthy, honorable men. We’ve been admiring this program for a while and have enjoyed watching them grow, supporting minority young men in the underserved communities in the Asheville area. MDTMT works with youth from 12-19 years old and encourages them with development, uplift, and education so they can become positive, productive men in the community. We admire the good work this program is doing and chose them as one of our recipients for our Giving Tuesday donation this year.
United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County (UWABC)
The amazing community work accomplished by the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County is irreplaceable. From supporting teachers and underserved students to feeding families in the community, the UWABC is a crucial lifeline for helping community members in need. This year has been particularly challenging, as many people have struggled to make ends meet due to the pandemic, and the UWABC has proved an invaluable resource to our local community. It was important to those of us at the Darby team to support this organization not only through volunteer work throughout the year but also with a donation this Giving Tuesday.
These were just two of many nonprofits that we felt called to donate to this year but there are so many other worthy organizations to give to. We’ve compiled a shortlist below of other nonprofits that were on our list (our focus was local to Asheville), but would love to hear from you about where and/or how you’re giving back this holiday season.
Southern Appalachian Highland Conservatory
Since 1974, over 75,000 acres of unique plant and animal habitat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for people to enjoy outdoor recreation have been permanently protected in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee because of this wonderful organization. As outdoor enthusiasts, this organization is vital to protecting the areas we like to play and explore.
Asheville Humane Society / Brother Wolf
We love our fur babies here at Darby, what can we say! Both of these organizations have provided many of us the opportunity to fall in love with our four-legged best friends. They do so much for homeless animals, taking great care of them and finding them fur-ever homes!
Similar to My Daddy Taught Me That, we love the work My Sistah Taught Me That is doing in the Asheville community. This developmental program encourages, inspires, educates, and empowers young girls, ages 11-19, with a special focus on girls growing up in single parent homes without their father.
This organization is doing some unique things in the community to fight homelessness and protect those who are living on the streets. We are particularly impressed with their Street Medics Outreach, a model that is the first in the country! Homeless and/or formerly homeless medics train under an EMT, RN, Herbalist, ER nurse, and others to provide on-the-spot assessment and first aid on the streets. This kind of forward thinking is what it takes to make real change in the world!
Learn more about our year-round give back through our Stand Up Initiative here. We will be announcing the 2021 recipients soon!