ROCHESTER, N.Y. (NCC News) — This Thanksgiving, the Small Business Council of Rochester Thanksgiving Appeal is supplying 3,200 baskets with food and cash to local non-profit organizations. The event is in its 23rd year. In 2020, its goal is to give boxes to 4,000 different families and reach the cash equivalent of over $1 million . The council will distribute the boxes Friday through Saturday.
This year is different than others the council has been through before.
“Obviously, given the COVID conundrum that we’re all living in, we’re trying to do this in an environment no one’s ever experienced with social distancing,” said SBC Program Chair Rick Dougherty. “This year, we’ve had to pivot a little bit from a philanthropic perspective. We try to usually give out physical goods, [but] this year, we’re probably two-thirds physical goods, one-third cash donations.”
Dougherty added that these donations have come from over 200 different businesses already this year – and that number may not be finalized yet. The council has come a long way since it began in 1997 with an original goal of just a thousand baskets. Since the, the SBC has seen a growth of over 150% in the families it provides to.
For Dougherty, this whole process just means so much.
“When you do that delivery, and when you drop the boxes off to whatever organization it may be, the kind words that the various directors of each organization have, combined with seeing some of the smiles on the kids’ faces, and the families’ faces when they know they’re a recipient, just speaks volumes to how big of a need the Rochester community has,” Dougherty said. “I couldn’t be more proud to participate in it.”
