TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank and Toledo School for the Arts were among hundreds of organizations that raised money on this year's Giving Tuesday.
James M. Caldwell, CEO of the food bank, said the organization serves eight counties and raised about the same amount of money this year as the same charitable day last year.
"Americans are more and more in tune to the inflationary cycles that we've been going through for the last three to four years," Caldwell said. "Hunger charities probably have a greater level of response or appeal because food is just a basic construct, food and shelter."
However, TSA received fewer donations this year than in previous years, according to Development Director Dave Gierke.
"It seems this year to be a little bit slower and I think there's a lot of factors for that," he said. "The economy, election years are not great fundraising years ... there's a lot of layoffs in northwest Ohio. I think people are playing it a little closer to the vest."
But he said donations come year-round and are important since it's a charter school that relies heavily on them. TSA aims to raise $500,000 annually to fund its operations.
"Instruments are important. Equipment is important. Teacher salaries and benefits are very important," Gierke said. "Unfortunately, as a charter school, we operate on less money than most traditional schools because we don't get any local tax millage."
More specific numbers on how much money was raised through Giving Tuesday are expected from TSA in the coming days.