2015 Midlands Gives includes 252 agency participants

More than 250 area nonprofit organizations are among the beneficiaries for this year’s Midlands Gives online fundraising event.

The 24-hour giving challenge of Central Carolina Community Foundation will be May 5 and will include charitable service groups from 11 Midlands counties.

Last year’s inaugural event generated more than $705,000 for 150 local nonprofits through the day-long online public fundraising campaign that went viral.

“Midlands Gives went extremely well for us last year,” said Mike Harmon of Jubilee Academy, one of the participating agencies. “It allowed more people to become aware of our organization, which opened the doors to new donors and increased support.”

IT-oLogy in downtown Columbia will be the headquarters for this year’s Midlands Gives.

“We were thrilled with the results of our first ever Midlands Gives Day,” said JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of Central Carolina Community Foundation. “We asked our community to embrace this campaign and they responded beyond our wildest dreams.”

Turnquist said anticipation is building for this year’s event.

“Local businesses, the media, members of the community and our regional affiliate funds have stepped up to support the 252 participating organizations,” she said. “The question on everyone’s mind now – ‘How much will we raise?’ If our community responds as they did last year, the sky’s the limit.”

Those wishing to donate that day can visit www.midlandsgives.org, select the nonprofit groups they want to support and make a minimum contribution of $20.

This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 2:07 PM with the headline "2015 Midlands Gives includes 252 agency participants."