Giving Tuesday event boosts Hannibal nonprofits with $10,000

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Some local nonprofit organizations received a collective donation of $10,000 thanks to the United Way of the Mark Twain Area and the Riedel Foundation.

On Tuesday evening the United Way of Mark Twain Area hosted Giving Tuesday a nonprofit celebration and evening of charcuterie at the Rialto in Hannibal. 

Donation jars collected funds for each nonprofit organization specifically.

Just as the event closed, a final donation brought the night’s total to United Way’s goal of $5,000. The Riedel Foundation doubled the amount with a $5,000 matching grant.

Each nonprofit paired up with a local business to set up charcuterie tables. Charcuterie boards ranged from chili, tacos, sushi, handmade candies and desserts, to the traditional meat, cheese and cracker charcuterie.

“Thanksgiving is followed up with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday,” Denise Damron, director of the United Way of the Mark Twain Area, said. “Since everyone’s been buying since Thanksgiving, this is just a time to pause and give some of those dollars to local charities.”

Giving Tuesday is a day set aside the Tuesday after each Thanksgiving as a day to promote generosity. It started in 2012 to encourage people to go out and do something good, and has become a global movement that anyone can join.

Learn more about Giving Tuesday here.

The winning charcuterie board belonged to Century 21 Broughton Team and the Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success (Hays) featuring bread with various baked cheese dips, and chocolate fondue with dipping items.

Hays works with the Hannibal Public School District to make sure kids are fed both physically and mentally. The Buddy Pack program sends kids in need home on weekends and holidays with packages of food items to make sure they have access to food when they aren’t at school. The mentoring program gives kids someone to look up to through a trained mentor—these relationships often begin in elementary school and last beyond graduation.

The Century 21 Broughton Team is a long-time supporter of the organization, and have been delivering buddy packs each month for several years. 

Angela Peters, the managing broker at Century 21 Broughton Team, said the group had so much fun at the event, they already plan to pair up again next year.

“I think this is a great event to get people to come out and actually see all of the partner agencies that the United Way works with,” she said. “And this was a great way to get that started.”