Charitable Giving Takes a Stand in Wake of Charlottesville Tragedy

This past weekend, our country endured and witnessed another act of violence that will make its mark in history. The “Unite the Right” rally was a gathering of far-right groups in Charlottesville, Va. And unless you’ve been shielded from the media the past couple days, you’re pretty aware of the grisly details of the event.

The tragedy left three dead and 35 injured. In the wake of the events unfolded in Charlottesville, more and more people are reaching out to help the victims of the attack. An online fundraiser for one of the victims, Heather Heyer, exceeded its goal by a four-fold at over $224,975, the New York Post reported.

As professionals in the nonprofit sector, we’ve been exposed to this trend plenty of times. The interest, passion and motivation for charitable giving explodes amid tragedy. People are more likely to give to aid in disaster reliefs, because they become more emotionally connected to a cause. Remember the President Trump’s executive order for a travel ban?

According to Market Watch, New York City make-up artist Emily Amick learned about what happened in Charlottesville and “felt compelled to take action.”

 “I see something like what happened this weekend and realize that even though laws have changed, and my life is better for it, the mindset and culture of so many white folks has not caught up. There is still so much hatred and so much work to do. So I donated to the Charlottesville chapter of the NAACP, because I think it’s important to keep organizations like this alive to continue the hard work ahead of us.” — Emily Amick

The NAACP reported on Twitter that thousands of people have reached out to them on how they can take a stand against hate.

Credit: Twitter

And when these tragic events take place, you can be sure to find pages and pages of news articles online. Articles such as this one will direct those looking to donate to relevant organizations and causes.