You don’t have to be a millionaire to have an impact on your community. Even small acts of kindness can make a difference, and small monetary donations can have a cumulative effect when people join together for a worthy cause. With that in mind, the staff at the Golden Belt Community Foundation are working on this year’s Giving Tuesday.

This is the 10th year for the worldwide event called Giving Tuesday, which turned the Tuesday after Thanksgiving into a day of giving. 

The Golden Belt Community Foundation has organized a local Giving Tuesday for nine years now, said Christy Tustin, executive director.

“Nobody ‘owns’ Giving Tuesday,” she said, noting there are now Giving Tuesday events in 75 countries. Each group that organizes an event adds its own flavor.

This year’s campaign theme is “Unleash Generosity.”

GBCF is a one-stop giving center for the 104 nonprofit groups and endowment funds participating this year. Donations to any or all of the funds can be made at the foundation office, 1307 Williams St., or online at goldenbeltgives.org. On Nov. 29 only, several area banks will also serve as drive-through donation sites.

Donations can be large or small, said Mackenzie Mitchell, Development & Communications coordinator at GBCF. Some families choose their charities as a group activity, where the children each contribute $5. On the other hand, there are substantial donations from individuals and businesses every year. Last year donations exceeded $339,000 with 1,191 gifts made.

This year there are four new participants: Rush County EMS, the Victory Garden of Barton County, the Nora E. Larabee Memorial Library Endowment (in Stafford), and Dropping 22 Inc. (in Great Bend).

The Giving Tuesday campaign actually got underway at the start of November, Tustin said, and as of last week GBCF had already received 52 gifts totaling nearly $19,000 on the goldenbeltgives.org website.

Once again, the community that donates the most per capita during this campaign will receive a $1,000 special grant award to support a community project within Barton, Pawnee, Rush or Stafford counties. The same city cannot win two years in a row.

Great Bend won the award two years ago and used the money for its Youth Academy. Last year’s winner was Olmitz, and that project has yet to be done.

There are also four $100 incentive awards. One donor will be selected by random drawing at the following times on Tuesday, Nov. 29. The winner gets to designate where an additional $100 from the GBCF will go:

• Kickoff award drawn from all donations received online from 6-8 p.m.

• Lunchtime award drawn from all donations received online from noon to 1 p.m.

• End of the Work Day award drawn from all donations received online from 5-6 p.m.

• Last Chance award drawn from all donations received online from 10 p.m. to midnight

Donations may also be mailed to the Golden Belt Community Foundation, 1307 Williams St., Great Bend, KS 67530.

The results of Giving Tuesday, and the awarding of matching funds to the top recipients, will be announced at the Great Charity Give-Back on Dec. 15.