Dear Friends,
For Riis Settlement, Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to reflect on the year’s work and give thanks to all those who have given so much to help make that work possible. While this has been a difficult year filled with loss, tragedy, and trauma, it has also been filled with hard work, flexibility, resilience and dedication. And there are a great many to thank for their contributions this year.
Firstly, I want to thank the Riis staff who worked in overdrive these past eight and a half months to run food and PPE distributions, equip students with technological resources and support their online learning, provide families with emergency cash relief, and launch Learning Bridges and after-school programs under extraordinarily challenging circumstances.
Thanks to our outreach teams who worked tirelessly for months canvassing the local community to both encourage community members to complete their 2020 Census and help stop the spread of the virus.
Thanks to all the dedicated volunteers, especially those from the local community, who showed up every week—oftentimes at 6 am!— to support our efforts to combat food insecurity.
Thanks to our private foundation and corporate funders who increased their giving at a critical time to help us weather the fiscal fallout from the pandemic. And thanks to all the individual donors who made gifts of all sizes to sustain our work.
Finally, thanks to our board of directors for giving their time, expertise and support to steward Riis Settlement during a uniquely challenging period.
As the world takes this day to celebrate generosity and the power to do good, I am proud to acknowledge that those principles provided the very foundation for all of the work that Riis Settlement accomplished this year. I hope you will consider extending your own generosity by making a tax-deductible donation to Riis Settlement to support our work in the months ahead.
With gratitude,
Christopher Hanway
Executive Director
