Naperville Gives donation drive aiming for $10,000
A small handful of visitors to Pinot's Palette in downtown Naperville made Wednesday a day of charity as they donated to the second annual Naperville Gives Day.
Volunteers with the donation drive hosted an in-person event for the first time this year, setting up for nearly five hours Wednesday morning and afternoon at the painting party place on Jackson Avenue with laptops to allow people to make online donations.
By 2:30 p.m. organizers had collected $2,600 total with different amounts being pledged to the roughly two dozen participating charities, said Marion Ruthig, a Naperville Gives Day organizer who is founder and executive director of the nonprofit I Support Community.
"We're hoping that a lot of people donate tonight if they didn't pop in," Ruthig said Wednesday afternoon. "We're hoping this will bring new donors, increase awareness and get people involved."
In its second year, Naperville Gives Day aims to raise $10,000 for charities signed up at napervillegives.org. Last year's event, held on the national "Giving Tuesday" after Thanksgiving, collected $4,000 for 12 charities.