Give Grandly! fundraiser nets more than $156K so far

The Give Grandly Coalition and the Grant County Community Foundation raised at least $156,000 for 55 southwest New Mexico nonprofit organizations over the weekend, which saw the return of the Give Grandly! in-person event at the Makers Market in downtown Silver City on Saturday. That number is likely to grow, as contributions to the regional fundraising collaboration will still be accepted online for another few days.
More than half of the 55 nonprofits participating ran booths at the Saturday event this year, encouraging residents to get out and learn about organizations in the area — and, of course, to support them monetarily.
“There were loads of organizations there,” said Bernadette Smyth, executive director of the Grant County Community Foundation. “More than half of the ones that signed up to participate actually participated in person, and many of the others came and helped out at the booths.”
Smyth called the event “engaging,” and noted that many of the booths had an interactive element. Among the activities offered were the Youth Mural Project’s clay workstation, the Gila Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of New Mexico’s branding station that allowed eventgoers to cut and brand a tree slice, and the High Desert Humane Society’s booth, where there were five dogs to pet.
“The event went really smoothly. There were lots of people coming by,” Smyth said. “There was a good buzz — I think everybody was just glad to be out and doing things again.”
Smyth said that volunteers from the Future Forge, along with participants from all of the involved organizations, helped the event run “without a hitch.”
“The Future Forge, they organized all of the tables at the Makers Market,” she said. “They were brilliant.”
During Give Grandly!, the Grant County Community Foundation accepts donations on behalf of all of the participating organizations online, and each nonprofit in attendance Saturday was accepting donations at their booths.
“As of now, we’ve raised $156,000,” Smyth said Monday evening, noting that the number reflected on the event’s website is inaccurate, as they are manually counting donations. Give Grandly! will accept donations for eight more days through their website — givegrandly.org — and over the phone and in person.
“If anyone that wants to give is having issues with the website, they can give me a call at the office” at 575-956-6095, Smyth said.
Supporting individuals and businesses organized by the Grant County Community Foundation will match donations up to $500 for each of the participating nonprofits that reach that threshold from their own contributors.
“The sponsors who gave us the money to be able to match $500 were just amazing,” Smyth said. “All of them gave a little, and it added up to a lot.”
Those sponsors include Freeport-McMoRan, Suzi and Janey, United Way, Hidalgo Medical Services, the Rydeski family, Better Homes and Gardens and the Daily Press, among others.
One of the organizations that had surpassed that threshold during the Saturday event was the High Desert Humane Society, which operates the sole animal shelter in the area. The nonprofit was able to raise $918 at the event alone, and with their online donations has raised over $2,000 so far.
“Last year we put it into Rosie’s Fund, which is a veterinarian bill fund for adopting care,” said Heidi Ogas, president of the board of directors at HDHS, “but this year, it is going directly into our building fund.”
Within the next five years, the High Desert Humane Society hopes to build a new adoption center near their current building, which would then serve solely as the county pound. She said this year’s donations will go toward that $1 million effort.
Ogas added that as a result of the foot traffic at their booth, the organization was able to find homes for four of the five dogs that they brought with them Saturday. She expressed gratitude to all of those involved in organizing the effort.
“I want to thank the people that put on Give Grandly!,” Ogas said. “The meeting, the scheduling, getting the webpage together and advertising — and then, the day of [the event], making all of the arrangements and helping people find their place and getting them set up, managing the money … it’s just a lot of work.”
Smyth also expressed gratitude to the many donors.
“I keep getting blown away by Silver City and Grant County, and just how generous people are,” she said. “There was one woman who came around with a bag of quarters, and she said that she saves her quarters all year. So it was everything from quarters to thousands [of dollars] we were getting.
“That’s what’s so fabulous about Give Grandly! is, no matter the size of the donation … it adds up to an awful lot,” Smyth said, extending her thanks to all of the donors and all those still considering making a donation before May 18. The donation website can be found at givegrandly.org.
David Marquez may be reached at david@scdaily press.com.