Aberdeen: Breathe Gratitude on Giving Tuesday

Created in 2012, and celebrated on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday was designed for a day of giving that could transform communities, and ultimately the world. In partnership with Giving Tuesday, South Dakota Gives just completed it’s second season of helping non-profits in South Dakota to raise awareness for their missions, have some fun and give away several cash prizes by engaging on social media. They also offered free training on ideas to ramp up online giving to the over 400 non-profits who signed up in the state. South Dakota Gives unique approach to collaboration on this day, brings non-profits together as one, cheering on milestones and building stronger communities.

Our Aberdeen Congregation focused our Giving Tuesday campaign this year on the Kaoma Sustainability Projects in Zambia, Africa. Sister Virginia McCall continues to collaborate with Sisters in Zambia and administer these projects to assist the people of Kaoma in becoming more self-sustaining. “With COVID-19 and the depreciation of Zambia’s currency, prices are high and the poor become poorer,” shares Sister Virginia.

Sister Pegge Boehm helped us kick off the day of Giving Tuesday by sharing a Facebook Live Mediation that morning. She encouraged listeners to “recognize the joys in the midst of our struggles”.  She asked those participating to discover the blessings in their life and posed the question, “What does it look like for you to express gratitude for all the blessings you have been given?” Sister Pegge ended the meditation with this thought. “The deeper giving is getting in touch with the Giver of all good gifts, our God.” Her meditation has been viewed over 500 times!

With a matching gift, winning a South Dakota Gives contest prize and generous donations from many partners, we were able to surpass our fundraising goal. God is good and we are grateful to be able to share these gifts with the people of Kaoma. CLICK HERE to read more about the sustainability projects in Kaoma, Zambia, Africa.