Midlands Gives returns for 9th year on May 3

Listen to this article

The ninth annual Midlands Gives Day will return on May 3.

The 18-hour online giving challenge is coming off a record-breaking 2021, when $3.34 million was raised for hundreds of area nonprofits. Since its inception in 2014, Midlands Gives, administered by Central Carolina Community Foundation, has raised nearly $16 million.

“Our region’s nonprofit organizations provide support and services throughout our 11-county footprint,” JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation, said in a news release. “Midlands Gives allows people to invest in our local communities by investing in nonprofits.”

Midlands Gives begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 11:59 p.m. Gifts of $10 or more may be made at www.MidlandsGives.org, where early giving is now open.

Nonprofits are grouped by 10 categories: animals; arts and culture; community improvement; education and scholarships; environment; faith-based; health; human services; veteran and military; and youth development. The categories can be filtered by Black-led, Black-benefiting or county. Nonprofits are represented from Calhoun, Clarendon, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda and Sumter counties.

EmmanuWheel, a Lexington County nonprofit that builds wheelchair ramps for mobility-impaired community members, is a returning participant.

“We make our impact one person or one family at a time,” said Donna Groomes, EmmanuWheel board member. “Midlands Gives has enabled us to reach our goal of building more ramps each year than the previous year."

Midlands Gives Day will be livestreamed on Central Carolina Foundation’s Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/CentralCarolinaCommunityFoundation. Nearly $200,000 in prizes are available and surprise challenges will be announced during the day, giving viewers the opportunity to help their favorite nonprofits win additional dollars.

The Midlands Gives platform, www.MidlandsGives.org, is hosted through Neon One and can be accessed on a mobile device or desktop. It features a leaderboard, prize tracker and searchable profiles of the more than 540 participating nonprofits. Donors can add multiple organizations to a shopping cart with donation sizes of their choice.

One hundred percent of each contribution, less a 2.2% credit card fee and a 2.8% Neon One technology fee, will go directly to the donor’s selected nonprofit. Donors have the option to cover these fees at checkout.