A Catalog for Giving 2023
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Courtesy of Homeless Children’s Playtime Project
We are so pleased to share this catalog with you: it sports a new name that emerges from our new brand – Spur Local. And the moment for change feels right. In 2020 and 2021, the active pandemic and the community’s health and safety were front and center. In 2022 we shared our 20th catalog as the country and region were emerging from the pandemic. We cannot and will not forget those difficult years or their impact — nor can there be a return to “normal” for a community that has changed in profound ways.
Even as we gather again in person, we recognize the challenges before us. Funding for arts and culture is declining. Hunger in under-resourced communities is on the rise. Housing costs have skyrocketed. Public safety concerns are growing across the city. And to top it off, the planet is getting hotter.
The truth is, there never was a thriving, equitable “normal” – at least, not for everyone. The pandemic has laid that fact bare.
So it is important that we pause for a moment and ask ourselves -- who do we want to be in this new era? What can I do? Where do I want to show up? Can I make a difference close to home?
The simple but powerful answer we offer is YES.
In the pages of this catalog, you will find examples of neighbors caring for one another, stewarding our local ecosystems, nurturing our children and youth, supporting our elders, and creating spaces for joy. Great change does not require great action. Every day, local nonprofits practice incremental change by taking and sustaining small steps together. Quoting the poet June Jordan, Alice Walker’s 2007 book says it all: “we are the ones we have been waiting for.” Our solutions are here, around us and within us.
If you have ever questioned your role in the community, we invite you to be part of the myriad ways these local nonprofits continue to address our region’s – and our nation’s – challenges. Your giving, volunteering, advocacy, support –– all are critical if we are to move forward together.
So: live local? Give local. Give of yourself, your time, your energy, your influence, your compassion, your resourcefulness, your treasure. Give, because you are a member of this community and it is going to take all of us to build a more just and equitable tomorrow.
Strengthening local communities is our life’s work.
Together, we can be a catalyst for good.
