Year after year, your hard-earned taxpayer dollars get used for the priorities of political parties and you have no say about how much of your money is stolen and where the money goes.

On “Giving Tuesday” however, you can decide what non-profit organizations deserve your charity dollars. Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 and is always the following Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It’s an offset to the commercial shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s also a global initiative with 75 countries participating in what Wikipedia calls an effort to “mobilize their countries around generosity and shared humanity.”

Whether your priorities are fighting heart disease, breast cancer, climate change, poverty or you want to support animal welfare issues, this is YOUR day to support your favorite local, state, national or global organizations who are working hard on your behalf.

Many non-profits are using the day to raise more money than they would on an average day and have Facebook and other social media campaigns to remind their supporters to donate to them.

The Giving Tuesday website says that “GivingTuesday is among the few days of the year where people are actively seeking causes to support, rather than the other way around…On November 28, 2023, the entire world will be talking about, thinking about, and discussing ways each of us can contribute to a better society.”

Non-profits are using the day to not only raise money but also to host events, reach out to sponsors and donors, collaborate with others for a common goal and much more.

As for individuals, you don’t have to be rich to help others in need. As singer Trisha Yearwood says, “It’s not about giving back if you’re successful or a celebrity or how much money you have: it’s about your responsibility as an adult to help others.”