Every year, on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, communities and organizations all over the world celebrate the global movement of Giving Tuesday. While the Avangrid Foundation, AVANGRID and our subsidiaries work tirelessly to support the communities we serve throughout the year, we want to support the movement that celebrates and supports giving!

WHAT IS #GIVINGTUESDAY?

Giving Tuesday was created by the team at Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in 2012. The Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact, a cultural center in NYC, has been “bringing people together around the values of service and giving back”. #GivingTuesday connects diverse groups of people, communities and organizations globally with one mission in mind, and that’s to celebrate and encourage giving! Not only do they encourage folks to donate money during this time, but also their time, essential resources and talents.

As a global movement, #GivingTuesday unites countries around the world by sharing our capacity to care for and empower one another.

As a part of #GivingTuesday, we want to encourage our customers to amplify their small acts of kindness in their local communities. Below are a few organizations that Avangrid Foundation, along with AVANGRID and our subsidiaries, support throughout the year.

AUGUSTA COMMUNITY WARMING CENTER

The Augusta Community Warming Center, a critical community space and one of the few safe freely accessible escapes from the cold for local residents in Maine, opened for the winter one month early on November 1, 2018. Central Maine Power (CMP) has a long history of supporting the Warming Center with annual donations of clothing, toiletries, and snacks every winter in a time of critical need.  For more than a century, CMP has strived to be a good neighbor, and this year worked hard to raise the bar. The Avangrid Foundation’s monetary gift was a great example of the value put in this company on investing in the sustainability and well-being of our communities.

Bridging the Gap is one of many United Way of Kennebec Valley (UWKV) partner programs serving the needs of people in and around Augusta. In addition to the Warming Center, Bridging the Gap (BTG) operates Addie’s Attic Clothing Bank, Everyday Basic Essentials Pantry, the No Person Left Behind Volunteer Program and resource connection. More than 3,000 individuals are reached via these services every year.

Bridging the Gap is a program of Emmanuel Lutheran Episcopal Church and is located at 209 Eastern Avenue in Augusta. The Augusta Warming Center will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  beginning November 1. For more information or to make a donation, contact 248-1782.

SMART – START MAKING A READER TODAY

Since 1992, Start Making A Reader Today (SMART) has engaged with community in volunteering their time to provide one-on-one reading support to children from pre-k to third grade. Over the years, SMART has grown to become Oregon’s largest volunteer-driven nonprofit organization devoted to children’s literacy. With more than 129,000 volunteers in the books, SMART has been able to serve over 199,000 children and donate more than 2.5 million books to youth! Avangrid Renewables and the Avangrid Foundation have partnered with SMART, funding grants for schools and literacy programs.

To get involved with SMART, visit their website at https://www.getsmartoregon.org/.

CARDINAL SHEHAN CENTER

The Cardinal Shehan Center is a non-profit organization based in Bridgeport, CT, with a mission to promoting quality of life through learning. With the various programs and activities they host, the Cardinal Shehan Center has been able to address the educational, recreational, cultural and social needs of moderate and low-income families and young people, for the past 55 years. Their Environmental Club, started in Spring 2016, gives the community youth a chance to plant all kinds of produce, teaching them about the importance of sustainability. Their Culinary Arts program gives teens the opportunity to learn how to cook, meal prep and navigate a kitchen safely. Children are also given the opportunity to flex their cooking skills, learning about herbs, utilizing their math skills with measurements and learning all kinds of recipes.

To learn more about the Center and to support the 4,000+ youth they serve, visit the Cardinal Shehan Center at https://www.shehancenter.org/support.

BROOME COUNTY COUNCIL OF CHURCHES & THE CHOW PROGRAM

Broome County Council of Churches, operating out of Binghamton, NY, provides services to the disadvantaged of the community. They are advocates for change and reconciliation, promoting peace, justice and genuine community across racial, ethnic, gender, socio-economic and religious lines. The Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW), through their network of partnerships, is able to distribute more than 2 million pounds of food each year.

Throughout 2015 and 2016, the Avangrid Foundation, in partnership with NYSEG, funded approximately half of the capacity building and renovation costs for the CHOW. Renovations included a forklift-ready, energy-efficient refrigerator and freezer room, a larger sorting area to handle incoming items and space for an additional 88,000 pounds of food. Prior to the renovations, CHOW did not have the capacity to accommodate large donations of perishable foods and produce.

To donate your time as a volunteer, click here. To make a monetary donation via Venmo or PayPal, click here.

GREATER THAN

Greater Than began in 1990 as “I Have a Dream” Oregon, partnering with schools in poverty-impacted areas by selecting a third-grade class to be a Dreamer Class. These college dreamers receive three core services: mentoring, academic and social services. Now, Greater Than’s mission is to support and empower students from poverty-impacted communities to thrive in school, college and career. With the help of the Foundation and AGR Renewables, direct support of postsecondary scholarships for eight to 15 students are given per year. Funds indirectly support more than 850 students annually, with 300 in mentoring and 160 families receiving other services such as housing assistance. Youth from poverty-impacted communities are able to access higher education through intensive, multi-year academic support.

Approximately 50 students receive college support services annually. More than 1,100 students have benefited from Greater Than’s programs in the most poverty-impacted areas of Portland, Oregon. These studetns persevere in the face of many significant challenges and numerous barriers to success. The Whole School Model, which mobilizes a wide array of community resources to support education success, advances racial equity as a foundational element of all aspects of the work for all stakeholders, with a focus on dismantling systemic barriers to educational success.

Click here for more information on how you can support Greater Than