While you walk the aisles on Black Friday or tab through endless Cyber Monday deals, think about what follows these days of shopping and consumer chaos. Giving Tuesday. Each year, amidst all the urgency to buy, I set some money aside to give back to the nonprofits that have helped me along the way.
What Is Giving Tuesday?
Giving Tuesday is a global day dedicated to generosity, community, and collective action. It takes place each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and encourages people to support causes and nonprofits that matter to them. After a long weekend centered on consumption, Giving Tuesday shifts the spotlight to giving back and strengthening the networks that help people thrive.
Giving Tuesday began in 2012 as an initiative of the 92nd Street Y and the Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact. What started as a simple call for holiday generosity quickly grew into a global movement, spreading to more than 70 countries and inspiring millions to donate, volunteer, and advocate. Today, it stands as one of the most influential philanthropic efforts in the world, rooted in the belief that collective generosity creates real and lasting change.
Receiving Before Giving
I am a naturally intrinsic person. I do things for the joy they bring me, and volunteering has become a huge source of fulfillment. I am incredibly fortunate to have financial security through VA disability benefits because without that support, giving back would be harder. Still, I have found that supporting others gives me an incredible sense of purpose.
That understanding of giving began with understanding what it means to receive. When I was first injured, I woke from my coma to my entire family at my bedside in Washington State. They were able to remain by my side for months only because of a GoFundMe campaign that raised enough money for them to take time away from work. As I moved into long-term rehab and spent more than a year at the VA West Roxbury spinal cord injury unit, that same fund ensured I always had someone with me, cheering me on and helping me recover.
During one of my outings, I returned to find an anonymous care package from Semper Fi and America’s Fund. Inside was a hoodie, shirts, and an iPad Pro. It was their way of welcoming me into their community. I spent my inpatient stay learning to use that iPad, and eventually I started this blog. That single piece of technology became my entry point into digital art, writing, and the creative work that now shapes my entire life as a quadriplegic. Over the years, Semper Fi Fund has continued to support me with grants, equipment, and a sense of community that I did not know I needed.
When it came time to leave the hospital, I faced the terrifying reality of transitioning home. That transition was made possible by more anonymous donors, the remaining GoFundMe funds, and countless hours of donated construction materials and labor. The incredibly selfless Gary Thomas of NorthPoint Construction Management worked with the New Hampshire nonprofit Building Dreams for Marines to ensure I had a fully adapted in-law apartment waiting for me. Their kindness gave me stability at a time when everything felt uncertain.
My next major experience with receiving came from the Travis Mills Foundation. Their family retreats pushed my boundaries and helped me rediscover confidence as a newly disabled veteran. They provided camaraderie, friendship, and some of the most powerful experiences of my early recovery, even supplying me with prosthetics through their Recalibrate Program to continue what I experienced at the retreats from home. Later, I had the honor of serving as an ambassador, even working as a contract graphic designer for a handful of their fundraising events. Those projects helped me build my early portfolio and set me on the path to becoming a professional freelance graphic designer.
More recently, when my wife and I purchased our home, the Gary Sinise Foundation stepped in through their RISE program and provided us with an in-home elevator. Owning a multilevel house seemed impossible, but their generosity made this independence achievable. It’s hard not to tear up thinking about this freedom as I type from my home office in the basement.
I have received a lot. More than I can ever fully repay.
Which is exactly why I fight so hard to give. My volunteer work with SCIboston has been some of the most humbling and rewarding work of my life, military service included. As a peer mentor, I get to roll beside others with spinal cord injuries and help them navigate this chaotic, often overwhelming life. Moderating virtual support groups has shown me how quickly complete strangers can become a community that uplifts one another.
I am forever grateful to volunteer with such an incredible nonprofit and to help raise funds each year so we can continue serving people who need support, companionship, and hope. SCIboston gave me purpose at a time when I needed direction, and it continues to shape the way I show up for others. It has arguably had the biggest impact in my life post-injury and continues to teach me lessons about myself and about living with empathy.
The Gift of Giving
The most rewarding thing I have ever done is give. Whether it is hands-on volunteer work or participating in fundraisers like TMF’s Miles for Mills Memorial Day Run or SCIboston’s annual TR24 Legacy Wiffle Ball Tournament, there are countless ways to get involved. Giving does not need to be grand to be meaningful. Even a few dollars can ripple outward and touch someone’s life. Each month, I gather my passive income from sticker and merchandise sales from my website, and I donate them to a different cause. Other times, I will do pro-bono graphic design work and have the client make a donation to a nonprofit as payment. This trickle may not be much, but knowing that I am helping helps me.
If my experiences with these generous foundations resonate with you, consider making a donation this Giving Tuesday. Or volunteer. Or share a resource. Giving provides an opportunity for reflection and it connects us to something larger than ourselves.
If you want to explore nonprofits and resources that I personally recommend, visit the resources page on my website. Your support, no matter how small, truly makes a difference. It has changed my life.