NewsLocal News

Actions

Omahans join together to give back

Posted at 12:44 PM, May 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-22 20:16:33-04

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Whatever cause you feel passionate about, Omaha Gives! is an opportunity to donate to non-profits in the metro area.

Donations have reached more than $5.4 million Wednesday evening. At least 35,000 have helped 956 organizations. The Omaha Community Foundation is encouraging first-time philanthropists to donate to the nearly thousand non-profits. Most have given to the Nebraska Humane Society, specifically more than 588 donors for a total of just over $83,000.

You can find your own cause at https://www.omahagives.org/.Donations start at $10.

Some places like the Open Door Mission and the Kaneko museum are another few places that benefit from Omaha Gives! 24-hour online giving event. Volunteers like Jon Palmer keep things running smoothly. He's become a regular volunteer this year, who's encouraging others to donate what time they have.

"I'm not doing it for my glory, I'm doing it to help folks," Palmer said.

In other parts of the Open Door Mission, volunteers are sorting and organizing the food pantry warehouse which supplies food for mission guests like DeCarlos Jackson. He's been at the Open Door Mission for nine months, and Wednesday night, he'll graduate from the New Life Recovery Program that helped him turn his life around for his wife and children.

"Just having that mental stability, my mind isn't so cloudy like it used to when I was drinking or using drugs," Jackson said.

Other non-profits like Kaneko are also focused on helping others.

"Many look at us as just a contemporary art gallery, but we explore creativity in all aspects of life," Kaneko's Samuel Bertino said. "We look at how people are creative in science, medicine, and technology."

The museum aims to inspire others to create and think in different ways.

"Those donations that we get during Omaha Gives help us stay free and open to the public," Bertino said.

Kaneko, the Open Door Mission, and all many other non-profits benefit greatly from the donations.