Freeport McMoran

Freeport-McMoRan Foundation Contributes to Give Grandly!

May 10, 2021
Silver City Press

By most objective measures, Give Grandly! is once again shaping up to be a resounding success for area nonprofits — and it’s not too late to help make an even bigger splash.

After a record year in 2020, when total funds raised more than doubled from the previous year, as of Sunday morning this year’s totals had already outpaced those previous years as well. The tally for 2021 hasn’t yet approached the 2020 record, however, when more than $221,000 was donated by the community as the organizations supported by the event were bracing for the impact of the pandemic.

“Every year we have it, it just keeps getting bigger,” said Bernadette Smyth, executive director of the Grant County Community Foundation. “Last year was the best year. If we can get even close to that, [2021] would be a good year.”

While hopes of reaching or surpassing the 2020 total seemed to be waning among the volunteers at the in-person donation event staged Saturday at the Farmers’ Market on Pope Street, there was also plenty of reason to celebrate what has been raised.

“We definitely broke the million-dollar mark in donations and matching funds” since the annual event began, Smyth said, explaining that that had been a goal going into this year. Give Grandly! is in its eighth year, so that means donations have averaged more than $125,000 every year over the course of the effort.

The 58 participating nonprofit organizations are categorized as animal welfare, arts and culture, community well-being, domestic violence, historic preservation, education/youth engagement, border programs, environmental, and food security groups. The range means that for virtually any area of the community that a potential donor might feel passionate about, there is likely an organization that helps fill that need. There are opportunities to help regional efforts of nationwide programs, like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Girl Scouts of America, as well as purely local startups like Silver City Community Theatre and the Youth Mural Program.

According to online tallies Sunday afternoon, this year’s Give Grandly! had brought in more than $178,000. It is important to note that that number does not include some in-person donations that are still being tallied by event organizers, nor any online donations that will roll in between now and the official end of this year’s effort.

“We keep the donations open until the 22nd of May, so that folks who mailed in their donation can be tabulated into the final numbers,” said Andrea Warner, president of the Give Grandly Coalition for 2020-21. “We are still tabulating the final numbers.”

Some organizations have already reached their initial goals for the event, including the CLAY Festival, Friends of City of Rocks, Mimbres Cultural Heritage Center and Silver Chorale.

Others who thus far remain much further from their goals include CO.STARTERS, a program for helping local entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground, and YES: Youth Engagement Services, an organization which aims to help area youth from underserved communities acquire skills and real-world experiences to succeed in the 21st century.

Donors still have time to help any of these organizations, as the website for online donations will be open through May 22. Just log in to grantcountycommunityfoundation.org to access the link. There, donors can browse each of the potential recipient organizations and learn about the various ways they support Grant County residents.

Each participating nonprofit has the opportunity to earn up to $500 in matching funding, thanks to the efforts of the Community Foundation and the donations of a number of community partners. Major contributors to the program include Freeport-McMoRan, United Way of Southern New Mexico, local Edward Jones investment offices — James Edd Hughs, Niel McDonald and Kevin Thompson — Janey Katz and Suzy Calhoun, Better Homes and Gardens, Hidalgo Medical Services, the Sherman Foundation, Grant County Crime Stoppers and Rydeski Insurance.

Other sponsors include Silver City Farmers’ Market, Binary Circuits, Gila/Mimbres Community Radio, Skywest Media, Desert Exposure and the Daily Press.

In addition, more than 30 organizations, businesses and individuals donated items for raffle baskets and bags that will be awarded via drawing to donors who participated through Saturday.

<- Go Back