Today is Giving Tuesday or more popularly #GivingTuesday for hashtag activism purposes. Started in 2012, the event takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and helps kick off the Holiday season.

Giving Tuesday was started by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation as a direct response to the overwhelming commercial spending the nation underwent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The hopes are that people will start donating a portion of the money spent on retail gifts and focus more on non-profits who are in dire need of support.

According to the biggest donation processors, 2015 saw $117 million given to organizations (that is over quadruple what they processed in 2013). Here in Edgewater and Andersonville, local non-profits are also counting on those thoughtful donations from area residents.

The 48th Ward office has put together a list of local organizations that are looking for your support this Holiday season. Most non-profits on the list have direct links to donation processors on their websites.

Social Service Organizations:

Care for Real, 5339 N. Sheridan – careforreal.org

Centro Romero, 6216 N. Clark St. – centroromero.org

Chinese Mutual Aid Association, 1016 W. Argyle St. – chinesemutualaid.org

Girl Forward, 1251 W. Devon Ave. – girlforward.org

Pan-African Association, 6163 N. Broadway – panafricanassociation.org

South-East Asia Center, 5120 N. Broadway – seasiacenter.org

Vietnamese Association of Illinois, 5110 N. Broadway – hnvi.org

Organizations serving LGBTQ community:

About Face Theatre, 5252 N. Broadway – aboutfacetheatre.com

Chicago House TransLife Center – chicagohouse.org

TPAN (Test Positive Aware Network), 5050 N. Broadway – tpan.com

Vital Bridges, 5543 N. Broadway – heartlandalliance.org

Organizations serving youth:

After School Matters, 5917 N. Broadway – afterschoolmatters.org

Alternatives, Inc., 4730 N. Sheridan – alternativesyouth.org

Becoming a Man, Goudy, Senn, and Swift Schools – youth-guidance.org/bam

48th Ward Schools – 48thward.org

Organizations serving senior citizens:

Mather LifeWays – matherlifeways.com

Arts & Culture Organizations:

Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark – chicagofilmmakers.org

Chicago Mosaic School, 1101 W. Granville – chicagomosaicschool.com

Edgewater Artists in Motion – edgewaterartists.com

Edgewater Historical Society, 5358 N. Ashland – edgewaterhistory.org

Edgewater Theatres – edgewater.org/theatre

Edgewater Reads – edgewaterreads.org

Peterson Garden Project – petersongarden.org

Pivot Arts – pivotarts.org

Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark – swedishamericanmuseum.org