Georgians set new record for day of generosity

Every November since 2012, a day has been set aside for "Georgia Gives Day" to demonstrate what we already know Georgians are good at anyway: generosity.

This year's Georgia Gives Day was last Thursday, and it exceeded not just all previous campaigns, but all except the most extravagant expectations.

The fourth annual Georgia Gives Day brought in a total more than 50 percent higher than last year's, which had also set a record. This year's tally, as of Monday afternoon, stood at $3,673,562 from more than 17,000 separate donations through more than 2,400 Georgia nonprofit organizations.

Georgia Gives Day is coordinated each year by the Atlanta-based Georgia Center for Nonprofits, which partners with public and private donors, businesses and foundations. Over the four years of its existence, Georgia Gives Day has brought in more than 54,000 donations totaling more than $8.9 million.

Not only did this year's event show a record increase in donors and collections, but the number of Georgia nonprofits participating has almost doubled since its first year, from 1,346 in 2012 to 2,453 this year.

One local organization wasn't among the newcomers (though it probably brought in a few), because it's been a pacesetter in Georgia Gives Day from the very start: "From our inaugural year," notes the Georgia Gives Day page on the GCN website, "two organizations have supported our growth and led the nonprofits in their region Community Foundation for Central Georgia (Macon) and Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley (Columbus)."

That's not the only local success story in Georgia Gives Day: The single biggest beneficiary this year was the National Infantry Museum and Foundation, at more than $330,000.

People in Georgia, and especially in the Columbus area, tend to be generous all year round. But Thursday was an especially good day.

Bravo, Parks & Rec

Kudos to the management, employees and volunteers at the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department whose work have brought it recreation as the top such agency in the state.

At a recent conference in Dalton, Columbus Parks & Rec was presented the Agency of the Year Award for larger cities by the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA). This means the Columbus department was recognized over its counterparts in Augusta, Savannah and even Atlanta.

Department Director James Worsley passed credit for the recognition down the line: "We have a strong leadership team in place and they are committed to providing quality programming and phenomenal customer service."

This is a department that just a few years ago made headlines for mostly negative reasons. All involved deserve accolades for this turnaround.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Georgians set new record for day of generosity."