UPDATE 6:31 p.m.
Panhandle Gives reached $7,697, 477 on Giving Tuesday. Clay Stribling, President and CEO of the Amarillo Area Foundation said the Panhandle continues to amaze him.
“Fantastic… You know every year we’re surprised at how generous people can be in some pretty tough times. People in the Texas Panhandle just continue to surprise you in the very best of ways by being as generous as they can, it’s been amazing,” said Stribling.
One of the organizations registered for this year’s Panhandle Gives is Colorful Closets, which helps clothe students in Amarillo and Canyon. According to Keely Brown Co-Founder of Colorful Closets, this school year they have clothed over 600 kids.
The non-profit has already planned how to use the money.
“We foresee it just helping us build those, we buy extra socks and underwear and we’re able to top off each capsule wardrobe that we put together,” said Brown. “Ten tops five bottoms put together as a capsule.”
Organizations that raised over $250 receive a portion of the amplification fund, which is made possible by corporate sponsors, including Happy State Bank.
“We have always been a bank that gave back to the communities we serve, said Scott Lewis, Happy State Bank Regional President for Texas community markets.” “Leveraging a partnership with Amarillo Area Foundation just made a lot of sense for us.”
ORIGINAL:
AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Officials with the Amarillo Area Foundation announced Monday afternoon that its goal for the 2022 Panhandle Gives campaign has been surpassed. This comes as residents have one more day to donate to the campaign, which lasts through “Giving Tuesday.”
According to the Panhandle Gives website, 102% of the goal has been reached as of 3:45 p.m. Monday. More than $5.29 million has been raised for 192 nonprofit organizations, surpassing the original goal of $5.2 million.
Officials with the foundation recently celebrated the goal being surpassed on a Facebook live stream. During the live stream, Clay Stribling, the president and chief executive officer of the foundation, said that the results of the campaign so far show that the Texas Panhandle is one of the most generous regions of the United States, showing that residents give as much as they can to area nonprofits.
“We’re so excited. We’re so happy for the nonprofits of the Texas Panhandle,” Stribling said. “We could not be prouder of the donors in our community and I’m very excited for what the next two days are going to bring.”
Officials encouraged residents to continue to give, stressing the importance of giving to local nonprofits which have not hit the $250 mark or those organizations that have not hit their goal yet. According to previous reports by MyHighPlains.com, nonprofits that raise at least $250 will receive a percentage match for the total amount from the Amarillo Area Foundation’s Amplification Fund, which consists of money from foundations, corporate sponsors and individual donors.
Offline giving for the 2022 Panhandle Gives campaign ends when the banks close on Tuesday, officials said. However, online giving is expected to continue through 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. More information, along with the most up-to-date figures, can be found on the Panhandle Gives website.
