Village residents show support during Giving is Gorges

This year’s Giving is Gorges, a day celebrating and promoting county philanthropy, undoubtedly came at a rough economic time for residents, but that didn’t stop folks in Trumansburg from participating and showing their support for the local nonprofits that have helped their community for years.

Giving is Gorges was founded in 2015 and “unites our community members around important causes and supports our local nonprofit organizations,” according to its Facebook page. And while Trumansburg residents have participated in the day since its beginning, this year was a little different.

Trumansburg Area Chamber of Commerce President Keith Hannon decided to incentivize Trumansburg to support the village’s nonprofits by creating a giveaway.

“Simple game: you make a gift of any amount to a Trumansburg organization during today’s #GivingIsGorges and we put your name in the hat for a chance to take home $160 worth of gift certificates to Hazelnut Kitchen, Ron Don’s, Little Venice, Trimmer’s, Garrett’s, Wok this Way and NY Pizzeria,” Hannon announced on his Facebook on Giving is Gorges.

And sure enough, residents showed their support for five local nonprofits that serve the Trumansburg Area: the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts (TCFA), the Trumansburg Community Nursery School (TCNS), the Food Bank of the Southern Tier (which supplies the Trumansburg Food Pantry), Trumansburg Takes on Pediatric Cancer and Trumansburg Community Recreation.

In the end, a couple dozen residents were in the running for the gift cards, which Hannon had purchased himself. On May 27, he announced the lucky winner – Tracy Vanderzee, one of the members of the founding group of Trumansburg Takes on Pediatric Cancer. And that nonprofit received the most funds in Trumansburg during Giving is Gorges.

Hannon said Trumansburg’s participation in Giving is Gorges started off small in the beginning, with only one or two area nonprofits participating, but over the years, he’s seen it gain some more traction.

“As it becomes more of a countywide tradition, I think you’ll start to see more organizations from T-burg get in on that,” Hannon said. “From what I see, more people in T-burg are becoming more aware of the opportunity to support their local organizations, and I think that’s great.”

TCFA, which has been involved with Giving is Gorges since its inception, was happy to participate in this important day, said Managing Director Mark Costa.

“GiveGab and Giving is Gorges provide an excellent platform to reach generous community members and to communicate our mission of providing affordable opportunities to enrich life through diverse forms of artistic expression,” Costa said.

Hannon’s prize drawing was a spur-of-the-moment move meant to encourage even more participation from village residents during the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, and Hannon said he’s glad it was well-received.

“[My wife and I] were just thinking about considering everything going on right now, small businesses as well as nonprofits are hurting,” he said. “And so, I was kind of thinking, how can we motivate people to participate in Giving is Gorges for the nonprofits but then maybe also find a way for that to benefit the local restaurants and a local brewery that desperately needs help as well?”

And the drawing certainly achieved its goal, as Costa said that 2020 was TCFA’s best Giving is Gorges to date.

“Thank you to everyone who shared our message and especially to those who made a donation,” Costa said. “By providing a centralized resource for giving in the area, Giving is Gorges helps all participating nonprofits to reach their goals.”

Hannon echoed that sentiment, adding that Giving is Gorges was a nice uplift during the pandemic.

“When you can bring a lot of organizations together and make it a celebration, make philanthropy a celebration, versus an obligation, it generates a lot more excitement and a lot more engagement,” he said.

Hannon hopes to grow the village’s participation in years to come, possibly by expanding this year’s drawing into something larger and more coordinated for next year.

“I did think about reaching out to other community leaders and business owners and seeing if maybe they would consider adding to the value of a gift card that I was offering,” he said. “But … I wasn’t going to get it off the ground if I involved more people, but definitely next year, I think that would be a … good way for the community to contribute to a stockpile.”