Thanks to more than 100 donors who included The Arc of Essex County in their Giving Tuesday plans, The Arc raised more than $17,000 on November 28, its biggest fundraising day of the year. Held on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving as a counterpart to the more shopping-focused days, Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving to charitable organizations. This year, it was an opportunity for donors to give to The Arc of Essex County with an outsized impact, as a $3,000 challenge grant from Brad and Stephanie Hopton and a $2,500 challenge grant from Bruce and Lynn Bird allowed donation dollars to be matched multiple times during the day.

Giving Tuesday donations went toward the 2023 Annual Appeal, which is raising funds to replenish The Arc of Essex County’s Community Recreation Fund. When The Arc created the Fund two years ago, it was in response to a reopening world and rising expenses for our programs, which we did not want to pass along to our families. That year, The Arc community rose to the challenge, raising nearly $50,000 to support a spectrum of recreation and respite services, with each dollar making a difference for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Fund helped offset the cost of Community Inclusion trips, subsidized registration fees for Parents’ Nights Out, provided scholarships to Group Respite activities, and much more.

We have been so pleased to see our programs grow and expand in the years since, supporting:

• More than 320 children and adults with IDD
• More than 350 fun and engaging events
• More than 2,000 service hours for our Arc community

… and counting! But the robust use of our Community Recreation Fund also means its balance has run low. For our 2023 Annual Appeal, The Arc of Essex County is asking our community to include The Arc of Essex County in their holiday giving as we work to replenish that Fund and continue to give the gift of meaningful and joyful experiences to the children and adults we serve for years to come.

If you haven’t had a chance to donate yet, please consider doing so today. Your gift will help us continue these invaluable programs. You can donate at ArcGiving.com.

Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to these invaluable programs, on Giving Tuesday and throughout the season!