Black Friday is behind us, today is Small Business Saturday, Monday is Cyber Monday and Tuesday is Giving Tuesday — 24 hours for residents to share their generosity this holiday season to nonprofits in need.

During its inaugural year in 2015, over $30,000 was raised locally on Giving Tuesday. Last year CFNEM did even better, raising $41,187 from 495 individual gifts. It was a tremendous success that paid dividends to the 62 nonprofits who participated with CFNEM that day.

“The people of Northeast Michigan are incredibly generous, and that really showed on Giving Tuesday” said Christine Hitch, CFNEM’s marketing communications director.

Hitch said Giving Tuesday follows the widely recognized shopping events, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to kick off the holiday giving season. The hope for this movement is that people will set aside a few minutes from holiday shopping to give back to their community through the charities and causes they support.

This year a little more than 50 nonprofits from Alcona, Alpena, Cheboygan, Crawford, Iosco, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda and Presque Isle counties will be participating in the event through the Community Foundation, which provided the online platform, marketing tools and all recording efforts.

We hope local residents will take advantage of this special day and give generously to the wonderful nonprofits participating with CFNEM.

Northeast Michigan residents always are generous, and this is the perfect opportunity to put a holiday twist to a meaningful contribution.