Press "Enter" to skip to content

Editorial: A giving spirit

If you’re feeling downhearted about the fate of humanity, the increasing rancor of partisan political discourse, the rise in bigotry, hatred and the general malaise caused by cynicism and despair, take a second and reflect on this number: 3.1 billion.

This past week, following the gluttony of Thanksgiving, and the shopping frenzy of Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday and Cyber Monday, Americans dug deep and gave a record $3.1 billion to charitable causes throughout the U.S. during Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday started out a decade ago as little more than internet hashtag, and tapped into something that has been under the surface for a lot longer than that—the basic goodness and generosity of people.

Giving on that day increased about 15 percent from 2021’s figure of $2.7 billion, outpacing inflation. Inflationary concerns, one would think, would have resulted in a drop in charitable donations, as families have had to cut back on everything else as groceries, gas and housing c...

To view the rest of this article, you must log in. If you do not have an account with us, please subscribe here.