‘Giving Tuesday’ shifts focus from getting deals to giving back
By Alana Cerrone
@Alana_Cerrone
We’re fresh off the heels of a big spending weekend, so to get into the other side of the holiday spirit, Tuesday is marked the worldwide day of ‘giving back’ to important causes that need our help.
For example, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is giving away circus ticket vouchers to anyone who donates to cancer research at Primary Children’s Hospital.
And locally, mayors teamed up to encourage people to support the non-profits right in our own backyard, like the Give-a-Thon at Barnes and Noble in Warwick to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State.
"Every year we serve approximately 500-600 kids throughout the state with professional one-on-one mentoring programs…that wouldn’t be possible without the community," says George Evans Marley.
And Kirsten Evans, a dancer at Festival Ballet Providence, says, "for us this goes on 365 days a year. We are always trying to raise funds raise and awareness, just trying to get our message out there…so that we can give back to our community and bring arts and culture to our city."
The idea of Giving Tuesday began back in 2012 and was created by a non-profit group in New York City.
Giving Tuesday is even backed by science – turns out psychologists say that direct positive feeling you get when you do something good is in turn really good for you.
© WLNE-TV 2015
