The Giving Back, Giving Together community fundraising campaign was formed in March of 2015 with the purpose of supporting a different cause each year that will have a positive and lasting impact on our local communities. As an employee-driven effort, we knew that this program would provide C&N with an opportunity to make a lasting impression on our communities, but we never expected the magnitude of its impact. In the first three years, our team members have raised $182,000 in monetary donations, collected 14,264 item donations and volunteered their time on 399 occasions. You can find information on each cause and how you can continue to help below.
Literacy & Public Libraries
Public libraries strengthen our communities by providing unique opportunities for children and adults alike to learn, network, connect with one another and access resources that may not be available to them otherwise. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey, almost two-thirds of adult Americans say that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. The same study found that over 90 percent of adults think of public libraries as ‘welcoming and friendly places.’ In many communities, librarians are also ad hoc social workers and navigators who help local people figure out the complexities of life, from navigating the health system to helping those with housing needs. This ‘go-to’ role has influenced library programming and events, with libraries providing advice and connections to health, housing, literacy, and other areas.
In 2018, C&N's Giving Back, Giving Together program looks forward to another worthy cause by supporting 23 public libraries in our communities. Expect to see our team members out in the community this year conducting fundraisers, book drives, volunteer readings, and much, much more.
Feeling inspired? Here are just a few of the ways that you can participate:
• Share & Like posts on Facebook – for every “like” or “share” on a post associated with Giving Back, Giving Together, C&N will donate $1 to the cause. Just look for #GivingBackGivingTogether. Also, be on the lookout for #GBGTImpactStories on social media, where employees, customers and members of partnering organizations share how GBGT has made a difference in their lives.
• On-location events – visit your local branch to participate in fun events and fundraisers during the weeks of:
March 26
June 25
September 24
December 10
• Monetary donations are welcomed at any location during business hours
• Spread the word
Every child deserves a chance at living a good, fulfilling life. Unfortunately, there are many children in our communities who may not receive the attention and care that's necessary to provide them with hopeful opportunities.
Giving Back, Giving Together continued into its third year in 2017 by supporting 18 local organizations that have made it their mission to help underprivileged children in our area. The goal was to make a difference and provide funding for our partnering organizations so they can afford the supplies and programming they need to fulfill their missions. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to raise $60,000 to support these organizations, and we are very proud to announce that we surpassed this goal. We raised over $72,000 on top of 7,781 food, clothing and hygiene items, and our team members volunteered on 116 different occasions.
C&N also saw some very successful fundraisers and awareness campaigns in 2017. We sponsored a bouncy house for children to play on during the Tioga County Human Services Agency's event for Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, held on the Green in Wellsboro. In June, we raised over $20,000 alone with our 2017 C&N Charity Classic Golf Tournament. Social Media also played a big part in raising awareness with our "Thank a Local Volunteer Child Advocate" Facebook contest, as well as the introduction of our
#GBGTImpactStories on social media.
At some point in our lives, we will all rely upon volunteer emergency services in our communities. These services include Fire Departments and Ambulance Associations, which require equipment and training in order to keep us safe.
In its second year of the program, we rallied our employees, customers, clients, friends and neighbors behind an important cause – providing support for 52 local volunteer fire and emergency services organizations – and raised over $60,000 across all 8 of its counties of operation. In addition to our fundraising efforts, C&N employees volunteered their own personal time on 172 separate occasions throughout the year at events supporting the emergency volunteer organizations. We also brought back the C&N Charity Classic golf tournament in 2016, with proceeds going to support this great cause.
If you want to continue to help this cause, contact your local volunteer emergency services organization or The Pennsylvania Emergency Services Institute at
http://www.pfesi.org/
Hunger in America is a lot more common than most people think. About 1 in 5 Americans are not sure where their next meal is coming from. Food banks do help. Food banks are not government agencies, but private organizations. Some may receive food items from the US Department of Agriculture and some may receive funds from the PA Department of Agriculture, but many of them rely on volunteering and private donations to make sure those in their communities do not go hungry.
In its inaugural year, Giving Back, Giving Together focused on hunger and food insecurity with tremendous success. We teamed up with 20 local food pantries across 8 counties in New York and Pennsylvania. Not knowing what to expect, we set our initial bank-wide goal for the year at $10,000. It wasn't long before we soared past that goal and by the end of the year, we were able to raise over $50,000 while collecting over 6,500 food items. Employees also volunteered at various events on 111 occasions.
If you want to continue to help this cause, contact your local food pantry or Central PA Food Bank at 570-321-8023 or visit them at
http://www.centralpafoodbank.org/